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Filed under: Oil Sands

The recent drop in oil prices, in combination with the failing economy, is taking a toll in the development of Canadian oil sands. Because of low labor productivity and increasing costs, the Canadian-based industry is finding it increasingly difficult to compete in the global marketplace. Poor environmental practices and an “uncertain regulatory picture” are, according to a recent report by consultants McKinsey & Co., also contributing factors to a slew of development slowdowns and “postponements.”

One high profile example is Royal Dutch Shell. Yesterday, they announced they are holding off on phase II of their Athabasca oil sands project, although they will continue on with their existing expansion operation. Other projects seeing similar actions include (but are not limited to) the $20.6-billion Voyageur oil sands project by Suncor, the $23.8-billion Fort Hills development by Petro Canada, Teck Cominco Ltd. and UTS Energy Corp as well as $6.6-billion Long Lake project by Nexen Inc. and OPTI Canada Ltd. We expect that, as the price of oil begins to climb sometime in the near future, the corporations will continue on with their plans to destroy Alberta for fun and profit.

[Source: Globe & Mail]

Oil sands projects bogging down originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: SMART, USA

When smart first decided to offer its diminutive fortwo in the United States, the automaker and Penske, the U.S. distributor, pegged a goal of 20,000 sales for its first year. That mark has come and gone, a full two months ahead of schedule. In early August, we heard that Penske had raised its sales expectations to somewhere between 24,000 and 27,500, a mark that shouldn’t be hard to hit considering that over 7,000 units have been delivered in the last three months. This is the first year that the city car has been available in the States, but the brand has actually been around for about ten years. Our understanding is that the automaker could sell way more units in the U.S. if units could be built fast enough. Dave Schembri, president of smart USA, was on hand for the historic event. The car was delivered to Patrick Zipper in Dallas, Texas. Next question: Will the sales success continue on into 2009?

[Source: smart USA]

Continue reading smart USA sells fortwo number 20,000

smart USA sells fortwo number 20,000 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 17:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Etc., Chrysler, GM, Green Daily

The other day, our friends at Autoblog did a little thought experiment about which vehicle models would survive if the much-talked-about merger between GM and Chrysler comes to pass. The post didn’t focus on the greener side of things, but we already know that the big Chrysler SUVs aren’t long for this world and that Chrysler already wants a little of the Volt advertising attention. So, what might happen should these two companies become one?

Lots of job cuts, to be sure, but when it comes to the excess vehicle models in the line-ups, Grant Thornton of the consulting firm Grant Thornton LLP, told Automotive News (subs req’d) that of the 26 or so current Chrysler models, only seven are “core” and would survive the merger: the Dodge Ram pickup; Chrysler and Dodge minivans; and several Jeep models, including the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. None of those are exactly eco-friendly, but AN writes that GM’s plug-in hybrid knowledge is a vital addition to the potential merged company (file under: no kidding), while Chrysler’s cash is appealing to GM (again, no kidding). What do you see surviving should a new GMrysler company take shape?

[Source: Automotive News (subs req'd)]

Chrysler vehicles could be attrition fodder if GM merger goes through originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota

At least a few dozen people around the country have now done one-off conversions of hybrids like the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape to transform them into plug-in vehicles. For those who may not have the hardware hacker gene in their DNA, the first commercially available plug-in conversion kit is now on the market from A123 Systems subsidiary HyMotion. Popular Mechanics Detroit Editor Larry Webster recently had the chance to sample a converted Prius with the HyMotion kit for a couple of days. The kit consists of a 5 kWh lithium ion battery and associated electronics that are claimed to give the Prius a 30-mile electric range. As Larry found out this isn’t exactly true. The pack will give the Prius up to 30 miles of driving before the battery is depleted. However, the Prius is not designed as an electric vehicle and the 67 hp electric motor is insufficient to let it operate on electrons alone at all speeds. With a very light foot on the gas pedal you can get up up to about 35 mph without the engine. Even at higher speeds, Larry found the engine would occasionally shutoff allowing the car to run on batteries. At lower speeds however, the engine will occasionally start up depending on the driving condition so that 30-mile range is really mixed mode driving. During Larry’s time with the Prius he got about 24-25 miles before the lithium battery was depleted. Given the $10,000 price tag of the kit, this looks likes its strictly for the environmentally-minded rather than those trying to save money.

[Source: Popular Mechanics]

Popular Mechanics tries out the A123/Hymotion PHEV Prius originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Diesel, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Mercedes Benz, SMART, Natural Gas, Daimler

Spanish Economy newspaper El Economista has published an interview with Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler, in which he says what a lot of our readers have been saying: hydrogen doesn’t make sense.

While speaking about Mercedes’ upcoming models, Zetsche gave a solid affirmation about downsides of the “hydrogen technology.” Hydrogen cars are not viable economically, he said. Zetsche listed the upcoming models and green technologies Mercedes is offering for the next few years: Diesotto, Natural Gas, the Blueefficiency line for the A, B and C series and Bluetec in the U.S. first and in Europe some time afterwards, not to mention the S400 hybrid introduced in Paris. When it comes to future products, Zetsche speaks about the new C250 V6 Bluetefficiency, the new Bluetec diesel hybrids in 2010 and new batteries for the Electric Smart. A lot of technologies, not a lot of H₂.

[Source: El Economista]

Dieter Zetsche: Hydrogen cars are not economically viable originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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