However, it seems the rest of our country is sold on the idea, including the automakers that sell to our market. In the past few weeks quite a few announcements have been made about more hybrids that are getting ready to roll down the assembly line: the Chevy Volt, the (new) Honda Insight, and the Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid. Call me skeptical, but I’m still not convinced …

2011 Chevy Volt

The one that seems to have people most excited is the Chevy Volt. Due out for the 2011 model year,  Chevy is hoping to break new ground in the hybrid market with the first mass-marketed plug-in hybrid. The Volt is different from other hybrids on the market now in the fact that the gas engine is not connected to the drive wheels in any way, but instead only serves as a generator to recharge the batteries and supply electricity to the electric drive motors. By plugging in the car over night, it is capable of driving up to 40 miles on electricity alone. Therefore if your average daily driving amounts to less than 40, you could go for long periods of time without ever using any gas.

While this sounds great at first blush and is definitely innovative there are some issues that could throw a wrench in whether the Volt is ultimately a success. The first is its cost. Early estimates show that the Volt could cost up to $40,000. That’s a lot of money for a 4-door 5-passenger Chevy. The company is currently lobbying congress (ack) to give Volt buyers a sizable tax credit for their green-ness that would help offset this initial cost, but that still remains to be determined.

A technical issue that could come into play is the fact that if buyers were to spend several months only making short trips and never using the gas engine they could run into gasoline stability problems. Without added stabilizers, gasoline only has a limited “shelf-life” before it begins to deteriorate. As gasoline ages and breaks down it becomes dirtier when it is combusted and provides less energy. In worst-case scenarios Volt drivers could find themselves with a tank full of fuel that produces excess pollution, causes the car’s engine to run poorly, or even not run at all!

Finally, there are also environmental implications of such a plug-in hybrid. While GM estimates that it would only cost 40 cents per day to charge the Volt, thus making it much less expensive than powering it by gasoline, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is more environmentally friendly. When charging from the electrical grid most of the environmental impact is transferred from the car itself to the power plant that generates the electricity. If everyone were to start using plug-in hybrids the electrical infrastructure would need to be updated and potentially cause more pollution from power plants. I therefore repeat my mantra that “hybrids aren’t as green as you think they are.”

My final comment on the Volt is that it truly embodies “love it or hate it” styling. You can see more pics using the link above, but I’ll simply say that I fall into the “hate it” category.

2010 Honda Insight

Set to be officially launched at the 2008 Paris auto show, the new Honda Insight is supposed to be on the road in April 2009, probably as a labeled as a 2010 model.  Honda has revived the Insight name from its first foray into the hybrid world.  The original Insight was actually the first hybrid sold in the US and remains one of the most fuel-efficient vehicles you can buy, despite the fact it has been out of production for several years. The new Insight is being billed as Honda’s “Prius fighter”, though I would call it more of a Prius clone. If you swapped the front grille and emblem you could probably convince people this was the next-generation of the Prius.

The Insight will likely be a bit smaller than the Prius, and is supposed to undercut it in price. Some reports have said it will debut with a starting price of $19,000. Of course, that’s before dealers mark up the price because if the fact that everybody will be clamoring for one.  Honda is hoping to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 Insights annually, so prepare yourself to start seeing these everywhere.

2009 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid

Why would I include the new Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid in this lineup? For two reasons: It is significant because it marks Mercedes’ first foray into hybrids. Prior to this model, Mercedes-Benz was sticking to super-efficient diesels, which they happen to do very well. In fact, the S-series diesel model returns approximately 40mpg, whereas the S400 Hybrid is expected to get about 30mpg. Ah, but diesels aren’t as sexy as hybrids, despite the fact that most other world markets have been gravitating towards them for decades.

The second reason I include this car is because it marks the first mass-market application of lithium-ion batteries in a hybrid. Lithium-ion batteries are more expensive but much more energy-dense than nickel metal hydride batteries, which are used in most other hybrids. That means that lithium-ion battery packs can be much smaller and lighter while producing the same performance. I must admit I don’t know as much about lithium-ion’s environmental impact as compared to nickel metal hydride, but I’m sure there is still some impact to be considered when taking into account the overall impact of the vehicle during it’s lifespan.

Make no mistake, this car marks the beginning of a new era of hybrids. In a few years I expect that all hybrids will be using li-ion batteries, or even something that is developed that will surpass them. Making battery packs lighter and more powerful will allow for increased efficiency which might make hybrids a more compelling environmental argument than they are now.

My take

I’m still not sold on hybrids. Yeah they have cool technology. Yeah they’re more fuel efficient than gasoline-only powered cars. But in my mind there are better, more environmentally friendly ways of reaching the same efficiency. I remain a big fan of diesel technology, in part because most modern diesel-powered cars can easily run on bio-diesel, unlike gas-powered cars and E85 (ethanol).

I’d love to see companies start selling cars like the 65-mpg Ford Fiesta ECOnetic here in the US, however the facts that their engines are built overseas and the dollar is so weak means that they aren’t economically viable. One vehicle I will be watching closely is the 2010 Volkswagen Rabbit TDI, due here in the Fall of ’09. While it’s not as efficient as the VW Golf (aka Rabbit) BlueMotion for the European market that gets about 62pmpg, it should still return mid 40′s to low 50′s depending on driving conditions.

Now the question is how long can our family get by with only one car, and can we wait for automakers to get around to selling more small efficient diesel cars here in the U.S.? I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

What’s your take on the seemingly ever-increasing hybrid hype?

According to the May ’08 sales figures reported by Autoblog and The Torque Report, the F-150 was outsold by the Honda Civic (#1), Toyota Corolla (#2), Toyota Camry (#3), and Honda Accord (#4)! Both the Civic and the Corolla sold over 10,000 units more than the F-150. If other automakers weren’t serious about selling more small cars in the U.S. already, you can bet they’re getting more interested now!

Some of the other numbers reported are just as amazing, such as the fact that the HUMMER division of General Motors sold less than 2,000 vehicles total (all models) last month, a decline of 61% over last year’s figures. Meanwhile, MINI sales are up 47%.

It seems to me that folks in the U.S. are finally changing their buying habits because of increased fuel costs. As much as I’d like to think that environmental concerns might also play a role in this shift, I have a feeling that this change is mostly due to the fact that gas is still hovering around $4 a gallon and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon.

Cnet.com’s most recent Car Tech podcast (episode 69) also shares some interesting buying trends with regards to used cars. Not surprisingly, large SUVs and pickups are depreciating at an alarmingly quick rate, along with large luxury cars. However, there has been a surge in interest among used car buyers for old fuel-sippers such as the Geo Metro, Honda CRX, and just about any older VW model with a diesel engine. It seems my chance at finding a low-mileage diesel VW Golf for a reasonable price is growing slimmer and slimmer.

While I don’t often watch news on the television, last night I happened to catch a story about how prices had skyrocketed across the area. People seem to be taking it pretty hard, and the question of “what are we gonna do” was getting asked quite a bit. Of course, I think the answer to this will be different for everybody.

I know that for many people one way of dealing with high fuel prices is by driving less this holiday weekend. In fact a common theme among the many news stories about this topic was the fact that people were planning on not traveling as much. Wow … big surprise there.

But that’s just one weekend. High gas prices aren’t going to be getting lower any time soon. Gas will most likely stay at or above $4/gallon for a while, and the longer it stays there the more likely it is people will find ways of dealing with it.

My theory is that most people will come to terms with high gas prices in one of three ways:

1. No change in driving habits – These are the people that you’ll see quoted in the news saying things like “gas prices are so high I can’t afford to xyz …” This is not to say that everyone in this category will whine about it. Some will simply be financially able to spend more on fuel without too much personal suffering. The increase in fuel expenditures for people in this category will come out of other areas of their budget, either intentionally or not. They’ll keep on driving their big, inefficient cars/trucks/SUVs the same way and the same amount they did before, they’ll just pay a lot more to do so.
2. Minor changes - These are the folks who will be skipping out on major holiday travels this coming weekend because of gas prices. They recognize that at some point continuing to live as if gas is as cheap as it was 5 years ago is no longer possible. They may start to carpool (or do so more often) and may even go so far as to really think about how often they need to drive to the other side of town and plan their in-town trips with efficiency in mind.
3. Major changes – And finally there are those who will see the $4 mark as the sign to start taking drastic measures. These people will consider (and in some cases enact) major life changes to cope. Things like buying a more fuel efficient vehicle, walking or biking to work, or even changing jobs or housing to cut down on driving. Of course, some of these changes will be more effective than others in the grand scheme of things, but effectiveness is not what will land people in this category. What will is the willingness to make such big changes.

Part of the reality of our current fuel prices is that they are still much lower than most other developed nations. France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy all had average gas prices of $5.50/gallon or greater as of March 2005, when the U.S. was still paying less than $3/gallon on average. The rest of the world has been dealing with this for a lot longer than we have, so maybe we should start looking at how they have dealt with it:

• Smaller cars – While U.S. automakers shrunk many cars during the last gas crisis, and many have continued to make compact and subcompacts, large cars, trucks, and SUVs are still commonplace on our streets and in our driveways. Anyone who has travelled outside of the U.S. can tell you that cars aren’t so large everywhere else. I am reminded of my recent trip to Brazil, where cars such as my own Volkswagen Passat seemed like land yachts compared to most other vehicles on the street. In fact, most automakers build and sell many smaller, more efficient models that they do not make available in the U.S. due to a perceived lack of demand. This does seem to be changing some, as Ford prepares to bring back the Fiesta (which never went away overseas) and other automakers start to introduce their pint-sized models to the U.S. market.
• Less cars - Another common trait of cities elsewhere in the world is streets full of bikes. When gas is so expensive that people cannot drive cars they rely on alternate means of transportation. For some this means bicycles. For others this may mean motorcycles or scooters. When I was in Italy 10 years ago I was amazed at all the little scooters people were riding around. I had never seen such things growing up in the States. However, similar scooters are now commonplace even in Richmond, IN. These times, they are ‘a changing.

So where do you find yourself fitting into all of this? What is your answer to “what are we gonna do?” I find myself falling somewhere between minor and major changes. If I’m honest with myself (and with you all) then it’s probably more towards the minor side. I do ride my bike around town and put a lot of thought into when I’m going to drive my car across town and what I’m going to do once I’m there. I’m planning on getting a newer, more efficient car, but that’s more because my old one is falling apart than because I want something more efficient. I will admit that fuel prices played a part in how far away I was willing to consider driving for work post-graduation. Thankfully it now seems I won’t have to drive very far at all. But that’s another post.

So let’s hear it … what are you gonna do???

What do things like word processing and surfing the ‘net have to do with saving the environment? More than you might realize. In this day and age of constant connection it is increasingly common for households to have multiple computers left running 24/7. In addition, the marketplace’s push for us to constantly upgrade our computing equipment means that there is a lot of “e-waste” with lead or other toxic chemicals that is not being disposed of properly. Here are some quick tips and links on how you can make your computing experience a little greener:

Power Down

I’ll start off with a tip that I admit I could do more often. Currently we have three computers in our house (a server, a workstation, and a laptop) that stay on all day and all night. My excuse for doing so is that they are all set to back themselves up to the server overnight. Some folks also leave their computers on at night to do things like update virus protection or run system updates. To help counter this practice a little bit my wife and I have instituted a practice of going “unplugged” on Monday nights, powering off our two main computers (and the television) around 6pm and leaving them off all night long. In the near future I plan to rework our backup server’s schedule and set up our computers to initiate a timed shutdown automatically (using GShutdown) after we have gone to bed. Windows users may want to look into Poweroff for the same sort of functionality.

Also, powering off peripherals such as speakers, monitors, and printers when you’re not using them can help cut your power consumption as well. All modern operating systems will allow you to set up your monitor to automatically enter a low power “sleep mode” after a predetermined amount of time. Instead of setting your computer to display a screensaver when it goes idle, which means your monitor continues to use the same amount of energy, you can set it up to cut your monitor off after 5 minutes instead. After all, do you really need a screensaver to remind you that you’ve stopped using your computer? You may also want to check out the SmartStrip, which is a surge protector that will automatically cut the power to accessories when you power down your computer.

Reuse or Recycle Old Hardware

There is an increasing amount of e-waste being generated by our society. A great deal of this comes from old computers. Knowing that many computer parts like circuit boards and hard drives can contain hazardous chemicals, I have never thrown away any computer hardware (much to my wife’s chagrin.) In addition, I try not to replace hardware unless it physically fails. This recently happened when my server’s motherboard and power supply literally melted down, fusing to one another and shorting out in the process. Both parts were about 7 years old and had been running nearly 24/7 since they were purchased. Not too shabby. But instead of going out and buying all new hardware to rebuild my home server, I instead walked out to my garage and disassembled an old computer I had been using for web surfing and streaming music while I worked on cars. It only took a day or so of work to get my server back up and running, and with no additional cost.

One of the things that allows me to get by without using cutting-edge hardware is the fact that I run Ubuntu Linux on all of our computers. Like most versions of Linux, Ubuntu can run comfortably (and quickly) on older hardware. It has been my experience that most installations of Windows become bloated to the point where they slow to a crawl after a couple of years. Meanwhile, I recently replaced my garage computer with one that was saved from a local dumpster (how’s that for reusing!) and it runs Ubuntu quite easily, despite the fact that most of its hardware is at least 10 years old! Sure, I won’t be doing as much multi-tasking or complex number-crunching on that computer, but for surfing the web and listening to music it works just fine.

So what should we do with all of our old computers that have either died or we no longer need? My recommendation would be to find a local charity or other organization that will recycle (or reuse) your old computer for you. You may be able to find such places by calling up some locally owned computer shops in your area (who may also be willing to take your old hardware off your hands.) The church I currently attend has recently started a computer “hardware co-op” that does this. For a small processing fee they will take nearly any old computer parts and either properly dispose of them or rebuild them into functioning computers that can then be redistributed to those who may not be able to afford computers otherwise. It’s a great idea, and one that I hope catches on.

Greener Hardware

Finally, when you do find that it’s time to replace aging or failing hardware, you can do so with more environmentally friendly products. I recently replaced the power supply and motherboard in our workstation, and in doing so I was sure to look at products that were RoHS compliant, meaning that they contained less toxic chemicals, and when possible I tried to look for solutions that used less energy. One way of getting computers to use less energy is to start from the source of their energy, the power supply. The 80 PLUS program is an effort to certify and recognize high-efficiency power supplies that may use up to 33% less energy than similar, non-certified models. The model I ended up settling on is an Antec EarthWatts EA380, which at the time had a mail-in rebate that made it nearly the same price as other similarly-sized units.

Another consideration when upgrading hardware is the fact that LCD flat-panel monitors are much more power efficient than old-fashioned CRT monitors. LCDs are more efficient not only when they’re in use, but also when they are turned off in sleep mode. Depending on how much time your monitor spends “awake” or “asleep” you could use between 60% and 90% less energy by switching from a CRT to a flat panel of a similar size.

If you are looking to replace your entire computer system, a popular low-energy solution is to get a laptop. In general, laptops use much less power than desktops, plus you have the added convenience of being able to pick up your computer and take it wherever you like. Just don’t forget to properly recycle those batteries! You may think that getting a laptop would cost much more than getting a desktop, but that’s not necessarily the case, especially if you’re willing to look into the possibility of getting a slightly used model (reuse and recycle, remember?) I recently helped acquire a lightly used IBM Thinkpad laptop for my mother-in-law for less than $500. Though it may not be brand new, after loading it with a fresh install of Ubuntu it has been a great system for her to use on a regular basis.

I hope these ideas help to spark your interest in the growing “green computing” movement. If you’ve got any additional ideas of how to make our interactions with technology less environmentally intrusive I’d love for you to share them, so post them in the comments section below.

Update: Here are a couple links for further reading on this subject …

• Easy Ways to Go Green with Your Computer @ Lifehacker
• 8 Ways to Easily Reduce the Energy Consumption of Your Computer – and Save Big Money @ The Simple Dollar

(To help envision the potential savings of each of these tips I’ll do a little math using some baseline figures. In order to see how much you could save, lets pretend your car gets 20 MPG, you drive about 12,000 miles a year, and a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline costs $3.29, which happens to be the national average as I’m writing this.)

1. Get Pumped Up

Most cars driving on the road today do so on under-inflated tires. You can find out what the proper pressure for your vehicle’s tires is by checking the driver’s side door jamb for a sticker with the information or looking in your owner’s manual. Tire pressure gauges are very inexpensive and easy to use. Most gas stations have air pumps or you can buy your own that will run off your car’s power socket. Checking your tire pressure every two weeks and keeping your tires properly inflated could help you get up to 3% better gas mileage. While that may not seem like much of a difference (from 20 to 20.6 MPG), over the course of a year it adds up to over $50.

2. De-Junk Your Trunk (And Lose the Rack!)

The heavier your vehicle is the more fuel it will need to get from point A to point B. This is one of the reasons big SUVs and trucks use so much of it. One easy way to lighten your load and increase your fuel efficiency is to keep the inside of your car cleaned out. An extra 100 pounds can decrease your mileage by up to 2%. The smaller and lighter your car is the more you will benefit from this. However, not all cargo is necessarily carried inside your vehicle. Large, bulky roof racks can also greatly impact fuel mileage. This is due to both their weight and their poor aerodynamics. Removing a large accessory rack from your car or SUV can provide a 5% or greater increase in MPGs. Taken together, these result in a savings of $130 annually using our figures.

3. Slow It Down

When driving down the interstate peer pressure is a powerful thing. When everyone else is doing 75 MPH it feels foolish to not do the same. However, slowing down just a little bit on the highway can provide a huge savings in fuel economy. Under about 45 MPH the primary resistance a car encounters is rolling resistance between the tires and the road. Above 45, air resistance becomes the biggest factor. Air resistance increases exponentially with speed, so the faster you go, the more your gas mileage drops. The math on this one is difficult to estimate, as it is hard to tell what percentage of your driving is done on the highway, at what speeds, and how aerodynamic your vehicle is. According to the U.S. Department of Energy it’s safe to say that each 5 MPH you drive over 60 MPH is like paying an additional $0.20 per gallon. Let’s say that you switch from driving about 3,000 miles annually at 75 MPH to doing the same at 70 MPH. That’s at least a $30 savings. Plus it’s safer too …

4. Breathe Deeply

Ok, this one may require getting your hands a little bit dirty. But just a little bit, I promise! In order for your engine to operate as efficiently as possible it needs lots of fresh air. Your car’s air filter makes sure that air is as clean as possible when it enters your engine. After a while the filter begins to get clogged, which is not necessarily a bad thing because that means it’s doing its job! Once the air filter starts to get dirty your engine can’t get as much air as it needs, and it begins to run less efficiently. Most manufacturers recommend replacing your car’s air filter every 12,000 to 15,000 miles for peak efficiency. This may seem like a lot of air filters, but replacing a dirty air filter can increase your car’s mileage up to 10%! That’s a jump from 20 to 22 MPG and a savings of $180 in a year, which is definitely worth the cost and trouble of replacing a $15-$20 air filter.

5. Don’t Sit Idly

Excessive idling can wreak havoc on fuel mileage. Remember, when you are sitting still idling you are getting exactly zero miles per gallon. You may have heard that starting and stopping your engine repeatedly will produce excess wear. While this can be true, if you have a relatively modern car and take care of normal maintenance like oil changes and tune-ups then you have nothing to worry about. Here again the size of your car can make a big difference. The larger your vehicle’s engine the more fuel it will use while idling. Sometimes idling is unavoidable, but times like sitting in line at the drive-thru or waiting to pick up a friend are perfect opportunities to shut down your engine and get more for your gas money.

Assuming all of these tips apply to your situation, these 5 tips combined could result in a whopping 20% increase in miles per gallon. In our hypothetical scenario that’s a potential yearly savings of around $350! I know there are plenty of other ways to increase your fuel mileage and decrease the amount of money you spend on driving around, so feel free to share some of your favorite tips and tricks in the comments.

And as always, your mileage may vary …

Friday5 is a weekly column that lists five items on a theme drawn from one of the various categories covered by From Bits to Bites & Windshields to Worship.