Plug-Ins to the Rescue: Minnesota May Nudge Ford Toward Greener Cars
by Jacob Gordon, Nashville, TN 
on 03.27.06
A novel piece of legislation was proposed in Minnesota last week that would turn St. Paul’s ailing Ford Motor Plant into a leading producer of plug-in hybrids. The bill, being promoted by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, would create incentives for the auto plant to shift from making Ranger pickups, to making a line of plug-in hybrid Fords. It would also give $100,000 in funding to the Minnesota State University at Mankato to convert two flex-fuel vehicles to include plug-in technology. The authors of the bill hope that they can save the St. Paul plant from potential closure and help make the state a leader in making cutting-edge green vehicles. Plug-in hybrid conversion kits just recently came on the market, but no commercially produced plug-in cars are available yet. A biofuel plug-in would also be a first. :: Twincities.com
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Also they should put a solar panel on the roofs of plug in cars. Imagine cars sitting in parking lots for 8 hours a day while their owners are working, they'll be charging on there own.
Donny, you just reminded me of this post about the solar Prius. True that most people just leave their cars parked in the sun for most of the day.
Wouldn't work in underground parkings, but maybe they could put solar panels or wind turbines on the roof of the building and people with plug in cars could plug them in outlets. Might be more efficient just to send that power directly to the grid, though.
Isn't a plug-in car just as eco-hurtful? Electricity is still generated by coal and plugging a car in just uses more coal (and creates more emissions). Kind of seems like robbing Peter to pay Paul to me....
In response to Linda's comment, you are right that much of our power in the grid comes form non-renewable sources, but even as is, the conversion of energy for a plug-in is much better than a conventional ICE or hybrid car. Plug-ins also open the door to other energy sources more easily, whereas hybrids always run on petrol (unless they run on biofuel, which is a great option).
I plan to do Part II of the Anantomy of the Plug-in article that details the energy equation. Thanks for bringing that up--it's a hot debate with a lot of interesting angles.
Bill McDonough should jump at this opportunity! So should Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Queens & Brooklyn) and Councilman David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) who announced a plan to encourage Ford
Motor Company to make a hybrid version of its Crown Victoria taxi.
The short answer to Linda's important question is - no, plug-ins are not as eco-hurtful.
Even though the electricity is generated from coal and other fossil fuels, those processes are much more efficient than gasoline engines - so they can produce less CO2 per mile than gasoline engines. Further, as renewable resources for generating electricity come on line (wind, solar, nuclear) they can displace fossil fuel systems - and further reduce CO2 emissions. Finally, stationary power sources (like coal or natural gas plants)have the opportunity to store their CO2 (sequestration). That cannot be done if the fuel is consumed in an automobile. I'm not at all a fan of coal, but the more emphasis we place on developing renewable sources of electricity - the better this situation gets.
Regarding the suggestion to put solar panels on electric vehicles (EVs) so they can charge while at work. Since an EV needs 5kW-hrs to 20kW-hrs of electric power to get home, those solar panels would weigh over 1/2 ton; so doesn't it make alot more sense to put them on the roof of the employer's building !!! How about some Government subsidies for the employers to do this? Until the system is maxed out by enough employees with EVs, the employers could reap the benefits of free electricity. Nice reward for going green!