Lab Drives Car to 100 MPG

June 10th, 2008

As the predictably lame article tells us: Clean energy is expensive.

Far more interesting than the story about the tricked out Prius is the annual budget of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. I’ve already written this commentary:

The U.S. spends more on the war in Iraq in one day (about $300 million) than it does on the ANNUAL BUDGET for the primary government laboratory that is tasked with renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. As absurd as that is, a recipient of a grant from this lab has developed a 40% efficient solar cell.

What if that lab had the funding equivalent of what the U.S. is spending on the war over a period of two or three days?

Clean energy is expensive, alright, gosh darn, mmm hmm.

Via: Rocky Mountain News:

If a car that gets 100 miles per gallon of gasoline sounds like a driver’s futile fantasy, think again.

Scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden are testing a spruced-up Toyota Prius, a plug-in hybrid sedan complete with a solar panel attached to its oval roof and a bigger battery in the trunk to supply power in lieu of the gasoline-fueled engine.

The result: A spunky Prius that runs the initial 60 miles mostly on battery, adding up to a fuel mileage of 100 miles per gallon.

“The stored power in the battery does a great job of displacing petroleum,” said Tony Markel, a senior engineer at NREL who has been working on the 2006 model Prius for the past two years. “For most people, their daily commute is about 30 miles, so this car would run virtually on battery and only need to be recharged at night.”

Displacing petroleum is a desirable virtue today, as the nation battles global warming and skyrocketing fuel prices.

On Monday, Colorado’s average price for regular, unleaded gasoline hit a record high at $3.943 a gallon, nearly 70 cents higher than the $3.258 a year earlier.

But the spruced-up Prius doesn’t come cheap.

The lithium-ion battery, which can be recharged using a standard electrical outlet at home or even at the workplace, has a price tag of $40,000. And the solar panel on the roof cost $2,500.

All told, the car adds up to almost $70,000 – but as NREL says, it’s only a unique research model at this point.

Posted in Energy | Top Of Page

Comments are closed.