Ernst and Young’s survey covered the globe with China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan as its respondents. For this survey, Young asked 1,000 vehicle owners about their willingness to purchase an alternative fuel vehicle within the next three years.

These surveys were done to help out Ernst and Young’s powertrain initiatives. The company plans to focus on business opportunities and issues which companies may face due to the development of eco-friendly alternative transportation solutions. The survey was also specifically designed to measure consumers’ interest and certain decision factors regarding the purchase of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.

The survey also revealed important factors which displayed China’s purchasing attitude. For one, the lead factor that influences their purchase is saving money. This was followed by the car’s environmental impact (86%), the safety features (69%) and government incentives (60%). All seven countries who participated in the survey chose to buy EVs because of fuel saving opportunities.

According to the survey, consumers were also concerned about several things regarding the EV’s power supply (they’re not sports cars, are they?). The vehicle’s driving range was the top concern in China (73%), followed by the visibility of charging stations (69%), and the serviceability and reliability of the vehicle (64%) tied with safety (also at 64%).

Although U.S. consumers are not known to choose hatchbacks over sedans, Lexus is counting on fuel efficiency of their hybrid and its sporty handling to win over consumers to the side of the Lexus CT 200h. The 200h will only have the 2010 Mini Cooper and the A3 from Audi as its competitions.

The 2011 CT 200h will use a new platform that has a MacPherson struts in front and a trailing arm and double wishbone on the rear. This is just one aspect to fulfill their commitment to provide a sporty ride experience combined with superior handling for the CT 200h.

The hybrid system under its hood will be the same as the 1.8L 2010 Prius from Toyota. The HS 250h has a more powerful engine with a 2.5L displacement. The 200h can run on pure electricity just for about a mile while cruising at around 28 mph.

Aside from the Normal, Eco, and EV modes, the CT 200h will have a Sport mode that will give the driver faster response in terms of steering and the throttle.

The project will first focus on providing commercial vehicles running on pure electricity. Ford’s participation in the project will allow a small fleet of Ford Transits to be converted by Smith Electric to run on electric engines.

The converted trucks will do a test phase in Germany. Seven of the Ford Transits will be running routes for delivery services. Two units will be serving as a shuttle service. Another Transit will be use by Cologne as a public transport service.

Ford will do the technical maintenance of the vehicles which will primarily run on the city streets. During the period of the project, the proponents will be taking down notes to see how customers find their experience of running a commercial EV.

A local energy company will also participate in the project to look into the charging infrastructure which will be very vital in the future. They will dig deep to find the requirements so they can provide technical solutions to the possible problems and demands of customers.

The City of Cologne has been studying the possibility of injecting e-mobility solutions and see its effects on the quality of air, noise level, and safety in the city streets.

The University of Duisburg-Essen provides the manpower to help with the scientific needs and knowledge base for the project.

Here’s the press release from Ford & Smith Electric:

PRESS RELEASE

FORD OF EUROPE PUTS ITS SECOND EUROPEAN BATTERY ELECTRIC VEHICLE TEST FLEET ON THE ROAD

Cologne, February 22, 2010 – Ford of Europe is stepping up its development of e-mobility solutions with participation in the colognE-mobil project now underway in Germany.

The colognE-mobil project will initially emphasise commercial vehicle application of pure electric powertrains, and Ford’s participation furthers the company’s commitment to accelerate the introduction of electric powertrains for a broad range of vehicles.

The German project will complement Ford’s involvement in the UK Government’s “Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicles” demonstration initiative, which is focused on the evaluation of electric passenger cars.

colognE-mobil project partners and objectives.

The objective of the colognE-mobil project is to widen the scope for e-mobility solutions in German cities.

In the project’s first phase, Ford will provide ten Ford Transits into which UK-based Smith Electric Vehicles (SEV) will install their pure battery-electric powertrains. SEV has been marketing this vehicle as the Smith Edison for UK and European operators since 2007.

Ford and SEV will build seven Transit panel vans for delivery service companies, two Transit buses for shuttle services and one Transit chassis-cab that will be used by the public service department of Cologne. Later in the project, a number of Ford Focus BEVs will add to the range of vehicles tested.
Ford is responsible for the technical maintenance and service of the vehicles which will be primarily used in urban areas, and will evaluate customer experiences throughout the project period.

Local energy provider RheinEnergie AG will install the necessary charging infrastructure and will supply CO2-neutral electrical power provided by renewable energy sources. Furthermore, their focus will be on studying customer requirements and technical solutions to enable electrical power fueling for individual mobility solutions.

The integration of e-mobility solutions within Cologne’s traffic infrastructure is the topic being researched by the City of Cologne as a partner in this project. Effects on the local air quality and noise targets, as well as on traffic safety, are areas the city is particularly interested in.

The fourth project partner is the University of Duisburg-Essen, which is providing scientific support and knowledge for the project. The University’s scientists will use the data collected to create simulations that scale-up the results of the Cologne project to apply to the whole region of North-Rhine Westphalia.

All partners are looking at the reliability of the batteries, characteristics of charging and discharging cycles for daily-used battery electric vehicles, customer acceptance of BEVs and the charging technology and traffic safety.

The electric Ford Transit

The Smith Edison is a pure battery-electric vehicle based on the Ford Transit, and for the colognE-mobil project, vehicles provided by Ford will be converted by Smith Electric Vehicles, a Tanfield Group company, based in Washington, UK.

Since 2007, Tanfield have sold battery-electric versions of the Ford Transit medium commercial chassis directly to fleet customers in the UK and selected European countries, making it the ideal choice for the German project.

The state-of-the-art 40kWh lithium-ion battery pack, rechargeable via standard 32amp single phase mains socket within 8 hours, powers a 90 kW electric motor, which delivers its torque via a single speed transmission to the rear wheels. With a range of up to 160 km and top speed of 80 km/h, urban areas are the perfect habitat for the silent Ford Transit-based Smith Edison.

The colognE-mobil project is partly funded by the German government and the government of the Federal state of North-Rhine-Westphalia. Within the framework of “The Federal Government’s National Development Plan for Electric Mobility.” the project is part of the model region Rhine-Ruhr, one of eight sample regions in Germany. The government has the ambitious target to get one million electric vehicles on German roads by 2020.

UK ‘Ultra-Low Carbon Vehicles’ demonstration initiative

In the UK a consortium of Ford, Scottish and Southern Energy and Strathclyde University are preparing later this year to run a fleet of zero emissions prototype Ford Focus BEVs.

The vehicles will be used by both the energy company and a number of evaluation drivers based in Hillingdon, Middlesex from mid-2010. This new BEV demonstration fleet is being created partly with public funding from the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB), which promotes innovative industry-led projects that reduce CO2. The research programme aims to test the technology’s suitability for potential future application in Ford’s European passenger car range.

The Focus BEV prototypes used for the UK programme are based on the current European Ford Focus and will use a new all-electric powertrain, provided by strategic supplier Magna. This technology is based on that being developed for Ford’s next-generation global C-car architecture and which will be launched as the Focus Electric in North America in 2011.

Under the skin of the Ford Focus prototypes is a state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery pack with the capacity of 23kWh and a chassis-mounted 100-kilowatt permanent-magnet electric traction motor. The BEV will have a range of up to120 km (75 miles) and a top speed of up to 136 km/h (85 mph). Charging the batteries will take between 6-8 hours using a standard 230 volt grid.

The S500 PHEV is another step towards the goal of Mercedes Benz to achieve their goal of mobility with zero emissions. The car relies on a V6 gas engine that works in combination with a 44kW electric motor which can output 60 horsepower. The system depends on lithium ion batteries that can store as much as 10kWh of energy.

The hybrid set up works well with the overall configuration of the vehicle. The Vision S500 can go from 0 to 100 km/h in a matter of 5.5 seconds. Despite the power and the speed, the S500 can still give you an excellent fuel mileage of 73.5 mpg. The 74 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer add to the other great numbers the car gives consumers.

The Vision S500 PHEV may take a while before we see it rolling out of the Mercedes Benz dealerships. The car manufacturer though promises the public that their engineers are crunching the numbers to make the car fit for long distance and everyday driving. The features are very ideal and the top executives of Benz see the car joining the S- Class releases of the near future.

The technology used for this PHEV might well be used for the other vehicles of the Mercedes Benz fleet. This is very feasible because of the compact components which will allow the car maker to package it with their other products.

The Vision S500 PHEV can run for 30 km on electric power alone. The range is very ideal for city driving. Just imagine the effects when cars roam the streets without any emission. The car makes use of the combustion engine in tandem with the electric motors when more power is needed during high speed driving and when dealing with inclines.

The Vision definitely gives us a glimpse of the future.

The Obama government has cleared a path to take so the goals will be achieved to meet the deadline. The plan will require carmakers to improve the fuel economy of their fleet by as much as 5% every year, just like what is being done in several states and in California. The stricter government requirements on fuel mileage standardize the rule from the east coast to the west coast.

The target for the 2012 to 2015 models was not yet clear for the auto makers until the suggested framework came out. The 5% increase with the 2011 models translates to 27.3 mpg on average according to the EPA and the Transportation Department.

The levels of improvement for the production cars of 2012 to 2016 will be leveled up from 33.6mpg to approximately 38 mpg. Light trucks are expected to have fuel mileage figures jump to 28.33 from 25.0 mpg.

The 2016 models will also need to meet the emission standards that will be in effect. The law dictates that the average carbon dioxide emission should have a combined figure of 250 grams per mile.

Consumers are on a win-win situation, aside from the cleaner air, they can get as much as $3000 savings in fuel spending over the expected years of their vehicles. According to government studies, it will take three years for consumers to recover the higher cost of spending for the new vehicles that will meet the stricter fuel economy and emission standards.

The total economy of the U.S. is also looking at an equivalent savings of taking about 58 million cars off their roads. The air will also be 900 metric tons of emissions cleaner.

In the online January issue of the Environmental Science & Technology journal, Professor Bruce Dale and his co-authors at the Michigan State University have said that most of the recent studies on greenhouse gas emission have not considered possible important factors that could affect the previous analyses.

Based on their new study, the estimation of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions connected with land use change could be best measured through cropping management. The study says that if there are consistent no-till and no-till plus cover crop practices, the required payback period for the land would substantially be reduced to three shorter years.

The recent development on the topic has caused experts to go on a debate. The issue is deemed to be crucial as it plays a big impact on the biofuel industry in the country.

The MSU professors noted that the recent studies have caused the country to set higher greenhouse gas standards compared to those that are in the local industry. Dale, supported by his co-authors, also said that the calculated time, by which biofuels would give environmental benefits, has many discrepancies. The MSU professors insist that the proposed timeframe of the earlier studies might not work right as the models used for the studies were not based on all the potential factors crucial for the formulation of the said time estimation.

Audi will introduce several technologies by mid of 2009. This will include a stop and start feature and energy recovery through the brake system.

The stop start system will just be like what others have developed. The system of the car will be off when the vehicle stops and the clutch is released. The engine will be turned on again once the driver engages the clutch. This technology is not yet available for the automatic transmission coupled engine.

The stop start system aims to reduce the carbon dioxide emission by 5g/km and about 0.2L of fuel for every kilometer. Audi will first use this technology on the A3 TFSI 1.4, 2.0L A4, and the A5.

The brake system with energy recovery will be first seen on the manual transmission Audi A3 1.4 TFSI, A4, and the A5 both on the basic and Cabriolet. It is also used on Q7, Q5, and the Audi A6.

The car manufacturer will also make use of a modular efficiency system which basically will encourage drivers to be more efficient while behind the wheels. This will be done through a series of feedback channels that will give the driver relevant data about fuel consumption.

The new Audi cars will also give the driver a cue when to shift the gears. About 30% of  fuel efficiency can be attributed to the different driving habits of different individuals.

The proposal urges automakers to have a fleet average of 35.5 mpg when the proposal is set into law, a standard which is 10 mpg higher that today’s rules. Obama also proposed a cut on carbon emissions from vehicles which play a major factor in worsening global warming.

Car manufacturers hear the gunfire at the starting point of a race to make lighter vehicles and efficient car engines like diesels and hybrids to meet the new guidelines. Experts point out though that the new call for better standards will have a $600 top up in the cost of production of every vehicle.

Looking from another vantage point, the US will be able to save 1.8 billion barrels of oil by 2017. The assumption is based on the average daily consumption of the US market of as much as 20.7 million barrels per day. The savings is equal to about 87 days of US oil usage.

Under the Bush administration, the 35 mpg mark is a goal set to be achieved at least by 2020. The call for better fuel economy comes on top of the March 2009 standards. The March guidelines set the 2011 vehicle models to have at least 27.3 mpg fuel mileage which is 8% better than today’s standards.

Car manufacturers have been opposing new fuel efficiency standards but have settled to agree to the new goals as they will have guidelines effective in all states with California included. Currently, automakers follow a separate guideline for the standards by the state of California. Legislators from California have agreed to follow the proposal from the federal government.

Allocations for the $455 million are as follows:

1. $419 million will be devoted to fund transportation projects that will include express lane automation, biodiesel ferries, vanpool vehicles, HOV lanes, safety infrastructure programs for bikes and pedestrians, and commute reduction initiatives.
2. The activities of the Community Economic Revitalization Board will be supported with $20 million of funding.
3. $10 million will aid the development of projects focusing on renewable energy technology for housing projects and public facilities.
4. Biofuel processing facilities and other biomass energy initiatives will be perked up by $6 million.

Legislations will serve as the foundation of these initiatives and investments to control damage to the environment and explore other options for energy production.

Proposals to pass laws on limiting the emission of green house gases are being pushed. Market incentives are also being put in place to encourage moves from all sectors. Some laws have been enacted in seven states of the US and four provinces of Canada in support of these moves.

Tax exemptions are also being lobbied to entice the public to buy hybrid passenger cars, trucks, and duty vehicles. Tax exemptions for the state of Washington will be stretched from 2009 to 2014.

Standards are also being set to drive the improvement of technology towards better energy efficiency.

The VW group is known to be interested with alternative fuel technology in the recent years. They have been pouring their efforts on the BlueMotion Technologies but have yet to explore the EV market. The Toshiba partnership will be a perfect opportunity.