What Happens to a Chevy Volt's Old Gas?

There are many questions about the upcoming Chevy Volt. One concerns what happens to the gas in the tank when you only drive the car short distances, using its electric power supply and not the gasoline-powered backup engine.

Local varieties notwithstanding, U.S. gas stations generally pump two types of fuel: winter blends and summer blends. The latter one, formulated to burn cleaner during high-pollution summer months, doesn’t work as well when the icicles form; in fact, it can make engines downright difficult to start. What’s more, fuel will slowly degrade as it sits in your tank. As MSN Autos reports, the components that allow fuel to combust will evaporate over time. And the chemical composition of the gas can degrade, leading to harmful deposits in your fuel system. Bottom line: If it sits, it quits.

So what will happen in cars like the upcoming Chevy Volt, whose gasoline drivetrain could potentially remain dormant for weeks at a time while its driver commutes, recharges and commutes again — all on electric power? At the Washington, D.C., auto show, we queried GM’s manager for hydrogen and electrical infrastructure commercialization, Britta Gross.

BMW Studies Car-to-Car Communication

On a frosty morning, imagine if the car 100 feet ahead of you could somehow alert you to black ice on an off-ramp. You’d slow down, and your car’s electronic stability system could even take preliminary steps to anticipate the situation. Witness car-to-car communication, the next step in safety technology. It’s something experts in organizations from the Center for Automotive Research to economic consultancy Global Insight have mulled for years now, and there’s even a federal program, called Intelligent Transportation Systems, to coordinate such efforts.

BMW, for one, says it’s on board. At yesterday’s Washington, D.C., auto show, VP of engineering Tom Baloga said the company’s progress toward car-to-car communication is “moving forward very well.” That’s in part because U.S. automakers have agreed upon a standardized frequency — 5.9 GHz — regardless of the car. Incidentally, 5.9 GHz is the same frequency European cars use.

“The car is going to act like a data-collection probe,” Baloga said. “The car’s location — anonymously, of course — will be transmitted to other cars and to an infrastructure, and this data will be used to identify traffic flow, slippery conditions, bottlenecks” and more.

More Details on BMW Hybrids

BMW’s X6 and 7 Series hybrids, which debuted in concept form at last November’s L.A. auto show, will likely arrive late this year and in early 2010, respectively. Do we need hybrid versions of leather-lined luxury cars? That's debatable, but Lexus and Mercedes are forging ahead with ‘em, so why not BMW, too? At yesterday’s Washington, D.C., auto show, we learned a few more details on both.

The X6 hybrid is a “full” hybrid, using the two-mode technology co-developed by BMW, Chrysler, Mercedes and GM. That means it can scoot on electric power, gasoline power or a combination of the two. And scoot it will — the powertrain works with the X6 xDrive50i’s 4.4-liter, turbocharged V-8. BMW VP of engineering Tom Baloga said to expect 20% better overall gas mileage, so combined city/highway gas mileage should work out to 18 mpg, versus the gas-only model’s 15 mpg. Compare that to the Mercedes-Benz ML320 Bluetec (20 mpg) and new Volkswagen Touareg 2 V-6 TDI (estimated low 20s). We should note that both are diesels, and as of yesterday diesel fuel was about 29 cents — 14% — more per gallon than premium unleaded. (What’s more, if you’re looking for top mileage among luxury SUVs, the less-expensive 2010 Lexus RX 450h should get a combined 27 mpg with AWD.) The X6 Hybrid should also be fast as stink.

Washington D.C. Auto Show: GM's Wish List for Volt

Shocking news: Extended-range electric vehicles like the forthcoming Chevy Volt will need all sorts of municipal infrastructure in order to break into the mainstream, GM told reporters at the Washington, D.C., auto show yesterday. The company says it’s working with cities like San Francisco and Washington, D.C., to make this happen. GM says steps needed include charging stations at offices and in public areas, favorable electricity rates and access to carpool lanes in states that have them. The major hurdle — consumer incentives to make such technology affordable — has already come in the form of a $7,500 tax credit approved last fall.

We asked Britta Gross, manager of hydrogen and electrical infrastructure commercialization (and also quite possibly the owner of GM’s longest job title) about where she sees the state of infrastructure down the road. Would drivers pay money for the electricity used when they plugged into a charging station? Not initially, Gross thinks. She said that in the 1990s, businesses would install such stations — sometimes with a federal tax credit for doing so — and offer up free charging.

Once plug-in cars proliferate, there may be a “business case for charging for access,” Gross said. “I think only time will tell.”

What Different Gas Mileage Standards Mean to You

At the forefront of everyone’s mind at yesterday’s D.C. auto show is President Barack Obama’s latest move on forthcoming mileage standards: an executive order for the Environmental Protection Agency to review whether states can enforce individual greenhouse gas standards. If they can, California and more than a dozen other states might enforce their own emissions and mileage standards independent of the feds, something carmakers say would force unwanted inventories upon car buyers and add thousands to the cost of each car.

By California’s stricter standards, automakers would have to meet a 42 mpg lineup-wide average by 2020; currently, the DOT’s corporate average fuel economy program has proposed a 35 mpg standard by then.

From former Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta to incoming National Auto Dealers Association chairman John McEleney, a number of presenters at today’s show vocalized support for a single national standard that’s not as stringent as proposed state standards. Natural Resources Defense Council vehicle policy director Roland Hwang, however, says California’s emissions standards wouldn’t add that much to the cost of a car. The proposed standards don’t have the same allowances for E85 vehicles as the EPA’s CAFE regulations, a loophole we also closed in last summer’s True Mileage Index. California standards also account for other pollutants, like A/C refrigerant emissions, Hwang said.

First Look: 2009 Mazda MX-5 Miata

Mazda will officially unveil the 2009 Mazda MX-5 Miata at the Chicago auto show next week, but the car is already on display at the Washington D.C. auto show, which is going on right now in the nation’s capital.

The front end gets some tweaks from the previous version, but other changes are almost indecipherable. In the brownish-orange color above, with the chrome-encircled grille, the Miata now has more of a real face than almost any car we’ve seen since Herbie the Love Bug. We’ll have more info on improved gas mileage and new suspension options next week, but for now check out more images below.

Washington D.C. Auto Show: Do We Need a Higher Gas Tax?

Volatile fuel prices — AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular was $2.98 a year ago, $4.11 last July and $1.89 today — have led to calls from prominent car dealers for a higher federal gas tax. Right now, the federal tax is about 18 cents per gallon; on average, states add another 27 cents. The idea is simple: Higher gas taxes encourage buyers to purchase more fuel-efficient cars, and the extra revenue goes to fund public transit, infrastructure maintenance and the like. Gas prices in many European countries are the equivalent of about 60 cents for every dollar.

“Cheap gasoline combined with fuel efficiency mandated by the government is an economic disaster for America,” Mike Jackson, CEO of dealer group AutoNation, said at an Automotive News conference last month. He’s pushing the idea of a $1-a-gallon tax phased in over five years.

At today’s Washington, D.C., auto show, former Secretary of Transportation Norm Mineta said he disagrees. Mineta, who also served as Secretary of Commerce during the Clinton administration, acknowledged that carmakers “just get whipsawed” by fluctuating fuel prices. Case in point: With gas prices plummeting in December, hybrid sales were down 10 percent for 2008, further hurting automakers’ chances of getting a return on their investments in such technology. But Mineta said he thinks a higher gas tax would do more harm than good.