Featured Slightly Toyota funded coalition calls for weaker CAFE

True, but there could be an increase in US jobs for small car production in addition to a decrease elsewhere. The decrease in profits is what they are really concerned about. Kill the pedestrian alert sound requirement to save a few dollars.

 

My guess is that small car production would be reduced, as it's a market that only sells if economic realities force them to be sold.

Hence CAFE, where small cars have to be made, even if they're sold at a loss. But, when the entire industry is lobbying for it to be rolled back...

 

Most of the Corollas around here were produced in Canada. Moving some of that production to the US would add to the US jobs, for example.

 

you think she's finished? grandmother with a grudge!

 

Its japanese jobs that are threatened ;-)

 

The government and some car makers in Japan want enough FCEV's on the road in order to showcase them during the Olympics in 2020. I don't think Nissan is one of those companies, and chose to develop this fuel cell tech as a snub to the hydrogen fueled ones.

Like batteries, there isn't a reason to see fuel cell costs drop with large scale production. The real hurdle to adoption is in insisting of hydrogen as the fuel; it has many qualities that make it a poor choice. Nissan and Volvo have shown that liquid fueled fuel cells are possible, which would require little to no changes to our current car refueling infrastructure.

Audi has a couple of pilot plants. One takes CO2, steam, and electric during peaks in renewable production, and makes methane is what is essentially the reverse of the reformation process to make hydrogen. The other plant takes the reaction a step further to make what they call blue crude. It is light weight and sulfur free, so is easy to refine into diesel.

Then a lab recently made ethanol in a single step electrolysis. These methods are only as renewable as the electricity used during the process. So they won't be as cost effective as charging a battery directly, but renewable electric production doesn't always line up with grid use. The syn-methane can simply be added to the natural gas grid to displace fossil fuel use. Blue crude could likely be burned without refining for electric generation during renewable slack times. Bet we can make a really pure vodka from that ethanol.

Then there are some vehicles and uses in which we can't simply switch to electric for; planes are one. For long haul trucking and trains, it is very on likely that the ICE will rival the fuel cell in terms of efficiency. Plus some people will never be happy with a plug in's recharge time. Replacing the ICE with a fuel cell in a PHEV is the long term goal for them.

Audi is working with bio-tech companies for making a bio-gasoline. Biofuels will likely require a coproduct to become financially feasible in the long run. This just means making something else, such as simple organic acids that are building blocks for other goods, along with the fuel from the feedstock. Here's an example. Yeasts only eat 6 carbon sugars while making ethanol. After they are done, the mash is fed to a fungus that eats any 5 carbon sugars left, and makes lactic acid. That lactic acid can be used to make PLA, a bioplastic.