The new CEO of BP is making a case for security as a competitive advantage. Reuters reports that he ousted his exploration chief as part of a vow to boost safety

“There is a pressing need to rebuild trust in BP around the world,” [Chief Executive Bob] Dudley added.

Neither in the official or internal statements did Dudley admit that safety failings particular to BP played a role in the oil spill.

Instead, he repeated BP’s position that the disaster highlighted industry shortcomings — a line of argument which has enraged BP’s rivals, who accuse the London-based company of having a weak focus on safety and technical excellence.

I guess as long as BP is part of the industry they are in a well-informed position to talk about its shortcomings.

HybridCars tells of continual problems with the hybrid Civic made by Honda. The latest issue has led to “Owners Disappointed with Battery Software Fix”

“My 2008 [Civic Hybrid] purchased new started having these problems about 6 months ago. Now Honda reprogrammed the software. Made it even worse.”

“I took my 2007 HCH with 38,000 miles to the dealer for the software update a week ago. Prior to the update, I had no problems or complaints with my car. I loved it. Just the right combination of mileage, 41 mpg average with adequate power. After this update my mileage has dropped to 35.5 average with a noticeable loss of power.”

Apparently, the software change does not directly address the battery problem–but instead reduces the vehicle’s reliance on the batteries and electric motor. Essentially, the “fix” extends the life of the battery, but turns a Civic Hybrid into a standard hybrid in the process.

Battery life forces reduced reliance on the electric motor. This is what I dislike about hybrids — hidden long-term battery issues. First you have reduced power. Second you have disposal and replacement costs. Third you have landfill and recycling issues…and so on.

It sounds great to talk about electric on the show-room floor, but you lose the benefits and face high costs just a few years later.

The software “patch” should be increasing use of electric motor not reducing it. This proves the backwards nature of the hybrid model today. Yet another example of diesel engines providing better long-term efficiencies.

I would really like to see manufacturers provide open data on engine efficiencies over a ten year period — or at least the average life of a car. Something like this might work:

1. Modern small diesel engines’ efficiency arrives to 0.40-0.41 and more, whilst the gasoline engines’ efficiency hardly go over 0.27-0.28 (based on fuel mass). So, their efficiencies based on fuel masses are related by the formula:
   Efficiency_mass_gasoline = 0.68 * Efficiency_mass_diesel
2. Gasoline’s and diesel’s densities are 0.74 kg/l and 0.84 kg/l, respectively. So their efficiencies based on fuel volume will be proportionally smaller:
   Efficiency_volume_gasoline = 0.62 * Efficiency_volume_diesel
3. Now, if you analyse the declared data for various diesel engines, you’ll find out that their approximate fuel consumption at max power can be calculated with the formula (in litres per hour):
   FC_diesel = 0.19 x HPmax
4. Knowing the relation between diesel and gasoline’s efficiencies (the formula n.2 above), the formula for gasoline engine fuel consumption will be, approximately:
   FC_gasoline = 0.30 x HPmax

Long term efficiency should be clear.

Honda has in the past has been sued for false advertising and has paid owners a rebate due to lowered MPG over time. That is not a good sign for hybrids. The article also points out that reducing time spent on electric has changed the car’s emissions profile, which also raises concerns by regulators such as the California Air Resources Board (CARB). Maybe MPG now will be from an average over years of driving?

Yahoo! News says a firm can’t fire a man charged with a 1.8 cent theft

A German company that fired a man for the theft of 1.8 euro cents (two U.S. cents) worth of electricity had no grounds for sacking him, a court ruled, dismissing the firm’s appeal against his reinstatement.

Network administrator Oliver Beel lost his job after charging his Segway, a two-wheeled electric vehicle, at work in May 2009. After he connected the vehicle to the firm’s power source for 1-1/2 hours, his boss asked him to remove it.

Twelve days later Beel found himself without a job.

They might have had a better chance if they had a policy specifically against charging vehicles. Then some kind of violation could have been claimed. Instead the court highlighted that employees charged cell phones and other devices without penalty.

Wired says the Two-Wheeled Zerotracer EV Is a Wild Ride

We’re jealous of the folks who get to drive the Zerotracer. It’s a sporty two-seat enclosed motorcycle that weighs less than 1,400 lbs, can do 0-100 km/hr (62 mph) in less than 4.5 seconds and has a top speed of 150 mph.

The first thing that comes to mind, if I remember correctly, is that this looks to be a very close copy of a vehicle in the 1991 movie “Until the End of the World” by Wim Wenders. Rent the movie and see how the landing wheels work; to be fair the concept was developed by a pilot and Wenders seemed to just throw it as a credibility prop.

The movie also had some amusing concepts of Internet search engines and computer navigation in cars. The search engine, for example, had a big Russian bear mascot that would say “I’m searching, I’m searching” while it generated results.

My first work with GPS navigation was in 1994, about the same time I saw the movie. It seemed back then uncanny how accurate Wenders was in his vision. The Wired article suggests to me it might be time to see it again and see what else was predicted or may still come true.