President Barack Obama will announce today that automakers must meet average U.S. fuel-economy standards of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016, four years sooner than previously planned, a senior administration official said.

The plan adopts nationwide a standard proposed by California, setting the first-ever U.S. limit on greenhouse-gas pollution from vehicles.

Auto companies and California have signed off on the proposal, ending their feud over the state’s proposed rules. California’s Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson are among those planning to attend Obama’s announcement.

“It launches a new beginning,” said David McCurdy, president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, in a statement. “The president has succeeded in bringing three regulatory bodies, 15 states, a dozen automakers and many environmental groups to the table.”

The Washington-based alliance represents 11 carmakers, including GM, Chrysler LLC, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp.

Source: Bloomberg

In a surprising turnabout, General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said Tuesday that increasing the federal gasoline tax to guarantee a minimum price of $4 a gallon is an idea "worthy of consideration."

Few industries have been more vigorously opposed to hiking the gas tax than automakers. But GM, which is betting its future on high-priced, energy-efficient cars, has switched its historic view and is now open to the federal government setting a new, higher floor on fuel, which would act as an incentive for consumers to buy hybrid and electric cars.

"It's great that smart people are talking" about ideas to conserve energy, Mr. Wagoner told reporters Tuesday. He was referring to recent comments by Michael Jackson, the chief executive of AutoNation, who recommended a huge increase in the gas tax to encourage American consumers to buy fuel-efficient vehicles.

"Michael Jackson is a smart guy," and his idea deserves to be considered, Mr. Wagoner said at a briefing sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

When the price of gasoline jumped above $4 a gallon in July, AutoNation, the nations largest chain of new-car dealers, had a two-day supply of Honda Civic gasoline-electric hybrids. By the end of the year, when gas prices dipped significantly, AutoNation had a 148-day supply of hybrids.

Source: Washington Times

President Barack Obama reportedly plans to keep a campaign promise that will allow California and other states to set their own fuel economy and vehicle emissions standards. This will create a situation where carmakers will have to tailor vehicles to meet the standards of each individual state, a costly process for an industry that is already suffering financially.

Both American and foreign carmakers have waged a lengthy legal battle against the California Air Resources Board (CARB), which until now has been blocked from setting its own rules by the former Bush administration.

While the U.S. government has implemented its own fleet-wide fuel efficiency standard of 35mpg by 2020 for carmakers (plus an interim mandate of 31.6mpg by 2015), California is planning to implement its own ruling of 36.8mpg by 2016. The issue has been a major headache for carmakers as California represents the single biggest market for new vehicles in the whole of North America and to make matters worse 13 other states plan to copy the stricter mandate, reports the New York Times.

Such rules would lead to fuel economy targets that automakers and dealers warn would create a patchwork of state laws, drive up costs and limit sales.

The new memorandum planned by Obama will order the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider the Bush administration’s past rejection of the CARB application. While it stops short of directly ordering the Bush decision reversed, the agency’s regulators are now widely expected to do so after completing a formal review process.

Source: Motor Authority

A proposed gasoline tax hike to fix the state's crumbling roads and bridges is pitting road builders against gasoline station owners, who say it would give Michigan the highest tax in the nation. With the proposed hike being considered by the lame duck state Legislature, Michigan would jump ahead of California, the nation's current No. 1, according to station owners. Michigan now has the nation's fifth-highest gasoline tax, including state and federal taxes, at 59.4 cents a gallon. California's is 67.1 cents.

"I put it down to three issues: It's too quick, it's too complicated and it's too much," said Michigan Petroleum Association President Mark Griffin, who sent a memo to legislators Tuesday outlining his concerns.

"It's the last thing this ailing economy needs right now," said Craig Hoppen, president of J&H Oil Co., which owns 34 gasoline stations in West Michigan. "Cheap fuel prices are fueling the (economic) activity we have now. Taxing gasoline to fix roads is an old way of doing it."

Michigan Infrastructure and Transportation Association (MITA) spokesman Mike Nystrom questioned the sincerity of gas station owners.

"It's interesting to me that this industry is now so concerned about excessive fuel prices," said Nystrom, whose group represents road builders and others in heavy construction. "We didn't necessarily see memos coming out from them when the price of fuel exceeded $4 a gallon.

Source: MLive

The U.S. average for gas prices dipped to $1.75 a gallon, a near five-year low, a national survey said Sunday. The average price of self-serve gasoline dropped 22 cents in the past two weeks, said Trilby Lundberg, publisher of the Lundberg Survey. The average, tallied on Friday, was the lowest since the $1.74 average on March 12, 2004, Lundberg said.

Lundberg attributed the price reductions to a drop in crude prices and demand. Prices could drop more if the global economic crisis continues to affect demand for crude oil. The all-time high average was $4.11, set on July 11, according to Lundberg. The Lundberg Survey is based on responses from more than 5,000 service stations nationwide.

Checkout some averages across the country in the jump!

Drivers in Cheyenne, Wyoming, had the cheapest gas prices, paying $1.46 on average. Motorists in Anchorage, Alaska, paid the most, at $2.54 on average.

Here are average prices in other cities:

Detroit, Michigan -- $1.61

El Paso, Texas -- $1.81

Atlanta, Georgia -- $1.72

Salt Lake City, Utah -- $1.58

Manchester, New Hampshire -- $1.76

Miami, Florida -- $1.87

Los Angeles, California -- $1.83

Portland, Oregon -- $1.93

Source: CNN Money

An unconventional engine design is attracting attention as a potential alternative to hydrogen fuel cells or conventional engines in some hybrid vehicles. Called the free-piston engine, it could be used to generate electricity as efficiently as fuel cells yet cost less.

Free-piston engines aren't new: they were invented in the 1920s. But the increased recent focus on hybrid cars has led a growing number of research groups and automakers to start research programs to develop the technology. Unlike in conventional engines, there is no mechanical connection between the piston and a crankshaft (hence the name free-piston). Since the design allows for improved combustion and less friction, the engines could be far more efficient in generating electricity than either conventional generators or newer fuel-cell technology. More in the jump!

Having a cheap and efficient way to generate electricity is becoming more important as automakers develop electric vehicles with onboard generators for recharging the battery pack and extending range. Such vehicles, called series plug-in hybrids or extended-range electric vehicles, are to be sold starting in late 2010. (Click here for a comparison of different hybrid and electric vehicle types.) The first will use generators based on conventional engines. But later models could incorporate fuel cells or other unconventional generators, such as free-piston engines.

The potential high efficiency of free-piston engines gives them an advantage over conventional generators, and their ability to use a variety of fuels is an advantage over hydrogen fuel cells. What's more, free-piston engines don't require expensive materials such as the platinum catalysts needed in fuel cells, so they could be cheaper too.

Automakers such as GM, Lotus, and Volvo have started to investigate the possibility of using such engines in future vehicles. Meanwhile, in the past couple of years, an increasing number of academic research teams have started developing the engines. So far, most have focused on computer simulations. An exception is a research group at Sandia National Laboratory led by Sandia researcher Peter Van Blarigan that has been testing physical components of free-piston engines. He is assembling a complete free-piston engine prototype, a project that he expects to complete within a year.

In conventional internal combustion engines, multiple pistons are connected via rods to a crankshaft that, via the transmission, drives the wheels. Free-piston engines do away with the crankshaft: the pistons aren't connected to anything. Instead, two opposing pistons just shuttle back and forth inside a chamber. To generate electricity, the pistons could be equipped with rows of magnets that shuttle past metal coils to create an electrical current.

The development of free-piston engines, however, is still at an early stage. "The free-piston has some unique features--simplicity and variable compression--which make it intriguing," says Gary Smyth, the science director of GM's Powertrain Systems Research Lab. "But [they] also pose a number of challenges."

Source: Technology Review

A storm-related gas shortage in the Southeast that has left some places bone-dry and others with two-hour gas lines is expected to continue for at least another two weeks, energy experts and industry officials say.

The shortage began two weeks after Hurricane Gustav hit the oil-refining regions of the Gulf Coast on Sept. 1. Operations that shut down before that storm were just coming back online when Hurricane Ike hit, forcing another shutdown. The gas shortage, now in its third week, is particularly acute here in sprawling Atlanta, in Nashville in parts of the Carolinas and in Anniston, Ala.

Crazy stuff.

Source: USA Today

Mazda has independently developed an idling stop system, called the Smart Idle Stop System (SISS), which improves fuel economy by about ten percent (in Japan’s 10-15 mode tests*1) in urban areas where vehicles frequently stop at traffic lights or in heavy traffic during operation. The SISS uses direct injection technology to achieve an excellent engine restart, ensuring drivers do not experience any discomfort with the new system. Mazda plans to introduce this core environmental technology to the marketplace in 2009.

Idling stop systems save fuel by shutting down the engine automatically when the car is stationary, and restarts it when the driver resumes driving. Want to learn more? Follow the jump!

Conventional idling stop systems restart a vehicle’s engine with an electric motor using exactly the same process as when the engine is started normally. Mazda’s SISS, on the other hand, restarts the engine through combustion. Mazda’s system initiates engine restart by injecting fuel directly into the cylinder while the engine is stopped, and igniting it to generate downward piston force.

In order to restart the engine by combustion, the pistons must be stopped at exactly the correct position to create the right balance of air volume in each cylinder. The Smart Idle Stop System provides precise control over the piston positions during engine shutdown to accomplish this. The SISS indexes each cylinder and initiates fuel injection before the engine begins to rotate. This enables the engine to be restarted in just 0.35 seconds*2, roughly half the time of a conventional electric motor idling stop system.

In addition to saving fuel, Mazda’s Smart Idle Stop System ensures that the engine will restart quickly and with exactly the same timing every time. Drivers will feel no delay when resuming their drive, which means they can enjoy a comfortable and stress-free ride.

*1 The 10-15 mode test is the Japanese standard for emission certification and fuel economy for light duty vehicles. It consists of two separate drive cycles. The 10-mode drive cycle is a low speed drive cycle test, while the 15-mode is a higher speed assessment.

*2 For vehicles with automatic transmissions. Restart times measured by Mazda.

Source: Mazda

We really like the whole saving-the-earth thing, but now Nissan’s gone too far. The ECO Pedal, to be offered as an option in Nissan vehicles next year, is designed to start pushing back when you step on the gas too hard, with the idea being to save lot of gas by discouraging lead-footing.

Just what we need — a nagging piece of tech that physically fights our urge to feel the thrill of acceleration. Feedback about fuel economy on a dashboard display is one thing, but physically pushing back is entirely another. No thanks. We’ll just combine trips and drive a hybrid vehicle instead.

Source: DVice

Exxon Mobil reported second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion Thursday, the biggest quarterly profit ever by any U.S. corporation, but the results fell well short of Wall Street expectations and shares fell in premarket trading. The four largest oil companies are expected to announce record profits.

The world's largest publicly traded oil company said net income for the April-June period came to $2.22 a share, up from $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, a year ago.

Makes you feel good, huh?

The initial Chevy Volt concept model had a 3 cylinder 1.0 L engine as the generator to keep the battery charged. The model with this engine suggested the vehicle would get 50 mpg when running beyond the 40 mile EV range. Recently we heard rumors on this point, neither confirmed nor denied, that GM might be considering a 4 cylinder 1.4 L engine instead.

Now GM’s CEO Rick Wagoner has confirmed these rumors. The 1.4 L turbocharged ICE is expected to power the Chevy Cruze we’ve recently just seen photos of, the car Wagoner refers to as the next generation Chevy compact.

Wagoner answered the following question, among others posed of him by the Flint Journal, centered around the fact that GM was planning to built this engine’s assembly plant in Flint, Michigan:

Flint Journal: Are there opportunities for Flint to have a hand in the future production of the plug-in Volt?

Wagoner: The new, small displacement engine that is tentatively scheduled to be built in Flint will be used first in the next generation Chevy compact car. However, we are looking at other potential; vehicle applications, including an application as the range-extender engine in the Chevy Volt.

Wagoner also mentioned that the turbo 1.4 L “achieves a superb balance between fuel efficiency and power” and specifically tell us “when teamed with a manual transmission, the new engine will offer customers a 9 mile-per-gallon increase in fuel economy over Chevy’s current entry in this segment.”

It is possible that this engine change decision may not represent so much an engineering issue, but rather an economies of scale advantage. It is clearly a big decision since Wagoner himself is aware of the debate.

Source: GM Volt