When I traveled around Kathmandu the city was filled with diesel carts that poured black acrid-smelling pollution into the streets. Polluting taxis were banned in 2000.

Kathmandu is one of the most polluted cities in Asia, vehicular emissions accounting for a big share.

Besides posing a health hazard to the public, the growing pollution is also seen as a threat to the tourism industry.

Save the tourists.

I just read about a similar trend finally catching on in other cities such as New York, London and San Francisco. According to the Automotive Insider major innovation in urban taxi technology is just around the corner.

London suffers from severe pollution. Taxis account for 12% of NOX and 24% of particulate matter in central London. In June 2008, Mercedes unveiled the London EVito, a six-seater electric vehicle that is taking the market by storm. Running on a 35w lithium ion (Li-Ion) battery, the EVito runs for 75 miles on a single charge and takes 6 hours to recharge using the UK standard 240v input. It sports anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and onboard diagnostics. In order to swerve around Blue Bell “kerbs” (curbs), the front-wheel drive EVito utilizes partial rear-wheel drive to achieve its tiny 25-foot turn radius.

That was two years ago and many more are on their way.

In 2013, Volkswagen plans to release its Milano taxi. Using advanced lithium ion (Li-Ion) batteries, the demure, charming Milano has a single broad side-door swerving open to reveal its four spacious seats. It has an electronically-limited speed of 75 mph and 67 continuous horsepower. Nissan plans to unveil its avant-garde Nissan Leaf in 2011, with a 100 mile driving range, while Mitsubishi, Renault, Toyota, Honda, Ford, Chevy and other companies are currently or planning on offering ecological vehicles.

This Milano sounds like the ideal shared commuter car. Hopefully by 2013 some of the usual risks of batteries will be sorted out…or a diesel-hybrid option will be available.

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?