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A green investment

Set against the news that Honda is introducing a V6 powered gas-electric hybrid Accord using Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system in combination with variable cylinder management (VCM) technology into the US this year, William Kimberley talked to Gunnar Lindstrom, senior manager, alternative fuel vehicle sales and marketing of American Honda Motor in California.

“We know that gasoline is going to be here for a long time, so we have a three-pronged approach for meeting future demands and technologies.” This is the reply by Gunnar Lindstrom, senior manager, alternative fuel vehicle sales and marketing of American Honda Motor in California, to a question about how American Honda views the future – at least as it evolves in North America. “Air pollution and air quality are at the forefront in the US whereas in Europe it’s more to do with energy issues driven by the price of fuel.”

American Honda is very active in its work across the spectrum of advanced vehicle technology whether it be alternative fuels, hybrid electric or fuel cell vehicles, and they are all interlinked says Lindstrom. “When it comes to air pollution, our first prong was gasoline to meet ULEV and SULEV (Ultra Low and Super-Ultra Low Emissions Vehicle) requirements, but this was when the tailpipe was the original culprit. As we brought the emissions down, though, the evaporative side of things assumed greater importance and became more dominant. Refuelling is now the third source of emissions in the US.

“The second prong is the hybridisation of whatever drivetrain you have and then we have the fuel cell in a sustainable way, which is what we’re all working on.”

However, Lindstrom is only too aware that while the public approves of greener and cleaner vehicles, they do not always put their money where their mouth is. “In the ‘80s we had two Civic models at the time – one was the high-fuel economy/low emissions version, and the other was the regular one. Both were offered side by side. However, customers were very sceptical and even negative about the economy version. They complained that it cost more, was more complicated, needed more servicing, had more problems on the road while the resale value was uncertain. So we decided at that point that if we were going to sell another high-fuel economy/low emissions model, there would be options.

“In ’99 we produced the Insight, what we called our supercar, in an all-out effort for fuel economy. It had many compromises in practicality and so on, but it was the first hybrid. It is still the highest rated car in fuel economy in the US. It sells pretty well, but it’s a pretty limited market so that we sell only around 100 a month.

“This led to the Civic Hybrid and now the Civic Accord Hybrid, both practical cars with a reasonable trunk space. They are what we call transparent to the user in that you don’t have to know or do anything different to drive it. They have exceptional fuel economy and, of course, low emissions. They differ from the Toyota Prius, which is more of a ‘look at me’ car in that they are more for people who want to blend in.”

However, Lindstrom is concerned that the market for hybrids could be distorted with the much discussed government or state incentives becoming a major factor for the wrong reasons. “What we are saying is that whatever incentives or benefits are provided, they shouldn’t be based on the size of the battery or the size of the motor, but on the energy performance – that’s what really matters. We would probably be going down the wrong alley if we said we must have a battery of a certain size because in two or three years something entirely new could come up that changes everything.

“The issue now is cost and whether this expensive solution is affordable, especially in the US where gasoline is dirt cheap – it’s cheaper than bottled water.”

After hybrids, the next prong for Honda is natural gas. The Ohio-made natural gas-powered Civic GX uses a 1.7-liter 4-cylinder engine to provide driving performance comparable to a gasoline-powered Civic. It has a range of up 220 miles on one fill, produces nearly zero emissions and is certified by the EPA as the first and only internal combustion vehicle to meet the cleanest engine emission standards. The problem, though, is the lack of refuelling locations – but it is meeting this challenge that Lindstrom says makes it worthwhile for Honda.

“In the GX we have a good car but the problem is that there aren’t enough refuelling locations,” says Lindstrom. “However, our research has indicated that people like the idea of being able to re-fuel their vehicles at home and so we purchased a 20% interest in FuelMaker Corporation, the manufacturer of home-based fuelling appliances, in October 2000.”

The FuelMaker home fuelling appliance, named “Phill”, is the first low-cost, home-based, re-fuelling appliance. It can be mounted in a garage and allows natural gas powered vehicles to be re-fuelled directly from a homeowner’s existing natural gas supply line. The core technology was developed around a series of modules that are used to build up the various vehicle refuelling appliance models. Each model is a complete self-contained unit that takes a gaseous fuel, natural gas or hydrogen, from a low-pressure supply, compresses it to between 3,000 and 5,000 psi and delivers it to a vehicle.

“Home re-fueling will help to increase consumer acceptance of natural gas-powered vehicles like the Civic GX by making home re-fuelling affordable and convenient,” says Lindstrom. “Right now it costs around $2,000 for the equipment but it will reduce to $1,000 over time. It has to be quiet, no maintenance, usable both in and outdoors and easy for anyone to use.”

Currently, some prototype development units are being installed so that data on noise and useability can be acquired. “Our target is to add 100 miles in 8 hours of refuelling – because it’s a slow time-fill, we get the full pressure giving us a greater range than fast-fill which takes just two to three minutes. An overnight time-fill will give a 200 mile range,” he adds. “When this unit is ready, we are confident of meeting customer expectations and then will introduce it to the retail market. Fuelmaker will offer this unit along with the car – we will not sell it directly.”

Fuel cells

“You need a solid foundation before you go to fuel cells,” says Lindstrom. “The electric drive technology comes from the electric car and a fuel cell car has an almost identical propulsion system in it. We’ve learnt about gas storage from the natural gas car, not only from a technical perspective but also for the user’s training. So our thinking is that in 2015, if this is a go, the driver will not be intimidated about filling up because it’s similar to what is already done with gasoline. So we need to work on the public’s misconceptions about driving around with a bomb in the shape of a pressurised hydrogen tank in the car – and we can only do that with the natural gas vehicle.

“There’s also energy management and how to recover it from braking and how to switch the MOSFETs and IGBTs. Dealing with the large amount of electricity at a rapid pace also takes quite a bit of understanding, but we’ve learnt about that through our electric vehicle and hybrid cars,” says Lindstrom. “In fact, the blending of friction brakes and eddy current electric brakes is very difficult at best. There are a number of prerequisites, for example, if the battery is empty, all the energy can be used with the battery as you brake, except there’s a limit unless you have an ultracapacitor. Secondly, if the battery is already fully charged, you can’t take any energy at all when braking – it all goes to friction, the blending of which makes it difficult to get the brake pedal fell that the customer trusts as there is variability in the pitch. We believe we have a confidence-inspiring regenerative braking brake pedal. It started with the electric vehicle but carried on with the hybrid car. We also expect great benefits in the marketplace with our ultracapacitor.”

The downside, says Lindstrom, is the lack of a hydrogen infrastructure. “Probably hydrogen will be produced on site – we can’t wait, nor can we afford to put in all the pipelines for hydrogen, so it will be distributed generation,” he says. “Having said that, we still have some issue with storage. We need to have at least a 400-mile range to satisfy customers. People are now getting used to huge petrol tanks, so the bladder is now the limiting factor rather than the size of the fuel tank, Eventually the industry will come to some sort of hydride storage otherwise we will go to higher pressures. Getting a decent range from a storage-on-board system without filling the car up is the major issue right now. When we come to performance, we need to change that to durability but we can do that by limiting the top speed to 90 mph (144 km/h) – that’s not the issue.

“To get the Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) credits we have to guarantee durability – 15 years/150,000 miles. Of course, we don’t really know how long they will last so we have to have a great deal of confidence in our technology. We are one of the few manufacturers in California that have AT-PZEV to give that sort of emissions warranty, but we’re not there with the fuel cell system yet.”

The real issue is cost, says Lindstrom. “We’re off by a long way. When it’s a magnitude of 10 I’ll be happy. The fuel cell itself is the main component. Everyone knows what it costs to buy a fuel cell stack and that’s the majority of the cost.

“Our fundamental building block is the clean gasoline engine with technologies we understand. The infrastructure is perfect, the cost is reasonable and we understand catalytic technology to produce zero tailpipe emissions.

“The second building block is the electric car from which we learnt about home refuelling. We also learnt a great deal about EVs, infrastructure and how important it is for customers to have confidence.

“The third block is natural gas and we’ve learnt to work with governments because it’s the fleets – and we’re not in the fleet business. The infrastructure is challenging and there’s the gaseous fuel know-how.

“If we combine the electric with natural gas, we get the home refuelling, so we continue to have tanks, continue to have home refuelling and you get the clean gasoline hybrid car this – our future building block. If we combine home refuelling and electricity we get the fuel cell car – and that is our strategy. You can’t skip any substantial steps in the process.