Correction: - you do not understand the basics of scientific/engineering advances. You should have learned this 10 years ago.

If the greedy oil companies had not been blocking this technology, we would have been using these years ago. http://www.vortexhunters.com/vortexmap.html

In Norway subsidies help bring the price of the Nissan Leaf down to $42,500 while penalties bring the little 1.3-litre Volkswagen Golf up to $42,000 (in Britain, the same Golf is $24,600). Plus $900 to $1,400 in road tolls. That adds up to $4,000 to $8,200 per car, per year. Plus free parking. Plus driving in the bus lane. And Norwegian Environment Minister Baard Vegar Solhjell drives a 7-seat Ford Galaxy. The state's largesse is fueled by vast sales revenues from oil and gas. Drill baby, drill. The Norwegians ARE clearly smarter than you.

When PHEVs outsell ICEVs, AND the gov is giving my money to the ICEV buyers to entice them to buy ICEVs; I will agree that the idiocy has switched the ICEV side. Knowledgeable people know that if US gas prices match those of Europe, people may start to buy many more PHEVs. But the Europeans are just now starting to buy EVs. Why? Gas has been ~$8+/gal for a long time. Because recently the European taxpayers are being forced to increase their support of PHEV buyers. I have thought that unique cars are exciting; EVs more so. But there are an inordinate number of irrational people that buy EVs and think that all others must buy EVs. It reminds me of my alcoholic uncle. There many Hummer buyers, but few demand that others buy them; and few or none believe that GM killed the Hummer to support Volt sales. But back to my main point - I like EV buyers, they are my favorite charity; but they might try to show a little gratitude, until I spring for one of my own.

Don't worry about NG becoming too expensive. If and when it does, free enterprise (contrary to the delusions of those here wearing tinfoil hats) will morph over to another form of domestic (I hope) energy, and if transportation fuels get expensive enough they (driven by us) will switch to batteries/EVs, hydrogen, flywheels, windmills or whatever makes sense - driven by the same motive as all of us who work for a living. Meanwhile the bureaucrats, driven by whatever motives you care to attribute, spend other peoples money (mine) on new, promising, exciting, developments like EVs; like the Prius, which will likely spawn similar and even better EVs, 3 to 5 years after it's introduction, if they just pay people to buy them.

Gen 3 8 lbs lighter. Aluminum screws. Thin-wall crankcase casting Simple exhause camshaft Exhaust headers integrated into the cylinder head Smaller diameter main bearing Roller bearings for the 2 balancer shafts Crankshaft with 4 counterweights instead of 8. Planned for gen 4 High strength steel screws for durability Separate exhaust headers for reduced cooling load Variable valve timing exhause camshaft Heavier crankcase wall to reduce noise Crankshaft with 8 counterweights vs. 4 for less noise. Hydrodynamic balancer shaft bearings for reduced cost. Increased diameter main bearings for durability. And weighs only 8 pound more

I expected Schiermonnikoog (and maybe Frisco) to buy from China, but not LA.

But we ARE producing more oil and burning more NG. And US CO2 emissions IS at the lowest level in 20 years and government officials say the biggest reason is that cheap and plentiful natural gas has led many power plant operators to switch from dirtier-burning coal. It demonstrates that "ultimately people follow their wallets" on global warming. "There's a very clear lesson here. If you make a cleaner energy source cheaper, you will displace dirtier sources," said Roger Pielke Jr., a climate expert at the University of Colorado. Wind supplied less than 3 percent of the nation's electricity in 2011 according to EIA data, and solar power was far less. Estimates for this year suggest that coal will account for about 37 percent of the nation's electricity, natural gas 30 percent, and nuclear about 19 percent.

No, we were scraping the bottom of the barrel 5 years ago. At least according to the predictions 10 years ago.

Few here seem to like each EV when it comes out and the rest don't like them when they fail.

We still need better, more affordable batteries. Their volume and weight are not too bad; they remain too expensive. GM loses money on every Volt. Even with a $7,500 U.S. tax credit, it sold only 4,244 through March and 23,461 in all of last year. From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130430/AUTO0103/304300449#ixzz2S2dOJYtr GM implies that if they reduced production cost by $10,000 they would be profitable and sales would be good. That is a whopping $17,500 "reduction target" if we assume it must stand on it's own with no "entitlements". And that assumes "reduce production cost by $10,000" means "reduce sales price by $10,000"; otherwise it is even worse. At that point we have a competitively priced small car with seating for 4 with GREAT gas mileage and range. We still need better, more affordable batteries. And PLEASE, let's be adults here and nobody say; all would be well if GM just reduced the sales price.

JS does not get it. Higher production at (existing) Texas refineries will reduce the USA's Oil and energy independence. Oil sands, tar sands, fracking, private drilling and well production has reduced green house gasses and controlled oil imports and prices. With the XL Pipelines, lower cost Oil from Alberta will be refined in Texas and sold at a lower price (more supply means lower cost) and we all win. The Obama administration gets it and is approving an oil and gas lease sale of more than 21 million acres in the GOM.

I think you guys really get it. The EV auto industry has embarked on an effort to morph the EV into an complex vehicle that they are more comfortable with and that will remain expensive. Doesn’t this, along with Volvo's 4 speed dual-motor Vocis eDCT concept represent a giant leap forward by Big Oil, Big Auto and Big Electric Company to maintain the high cost of EVs? They tried with the Fisker Karma and it failed; but now they are again pushing ahead – they are relentless.

I am sure you are right. If they are sincere about this they should determine which aspects, if any, could be standardized.

When you double a small number, quite frequently it is still small.

Also Diesel fuel has LOWER octane than gas, so you cannot inject much of it until the engine is ready for ignition. A well written article with little hype or Scuderia. This technology sounds like it is a few years away - depending on whether the cost can be controlled and the real world efficiency. And no, just making them by the millions will not make this technology economical.

"Reasons the agency sited for this trend include factors such as increased voluntary reductions, as well as the effects of the recent global economic slowdown." 1.The EPA calls this "voluntary reductions" because they are more uncomfortable with crediting the free market than they are with people achieving this methane reduction without the EPA forcing them to. This way they can now simply tighten the emission limits and increase the penalties - there is no excuse for allowing voluntary action when more laws can do the same thing, AND provide the side benefits of requiring more paperwork, more record keeping, more government administration and more bureaucracy. 2. "Reasons the agency sited for this trend include ... ... the effects of the recent global economic slowdown." So the EPA tries to imply that much is also due to a slowdown; but then they go on to say; "During the period from 2007 to 2011, gross natural gas production in the US increased from 24,663,656 to 28,479,026 million cubic feet, an increase of 15.5%, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA)." The EPA could learn from the private sector - such as better manure management.

Even for a concept car this seems complex and expensive - with no range extender. Two battery types. A flywheel. Two electric motors (or 3?) A range extender would separate it from macho golf carts and City cars. The range would go from 80km to "unlimited" I say unlimited because a 5 min stop to fill the gas tank is not a stop. But 20 min to find a charging station and 20 min to recharge IS a stop.

I am confident that 22 years will show today's predictions to be trivial.

Honda has made a good motor, if it has to be thin. Step back and decide if and why it really does have to be thin. Just because it worked well between the engine and transmission for the Insight I, does not mean it is the way to go. With the right (self imposed) constraints, the full sized Hummer is an excellent design.

"They seem to be using the EUs 95 gms/km limit for 2020 seriously" Kinda hard to tell, 8 years before.

HEVs/BEVs use systems that are in the hundreds of volts.

More complex, higher cost concepts are good for - concept cars. The 10 speed "manual" transmission better not need a manual clutch.

Seems like the same mind set as with the Wheel-Motors. Why try to design out normal, well developed, low cost, compact motors that only require simple, cheap shafts/gears to tie them in. Poor answers looking for problems.

No, they did not err - CO2 systems are expensive and operate at over 2000 psi offering higher repair bills. So what's not for MB to like?