Green Solutions -- Automotive and Otherwise -- Highlighted at "Opportunity Green"
By John O'Dell November 11, 2008By Dori Merifield, Contributor
The Opportunity Green
conference held at UCLA over the weekend showcased a host of businesses that have reduced their environmental impact, with speakers from the likes of Patagonia, Whole Foods and Nike discussing their companies' missions, strategies and environmental solutions -- such as Patagonia's line of clothing made from recycled soda bottles
.
The conference also recognized the green efforts of companies that brought us cupholders for carrying those soda bottles around all day, with an automotive panel featuring speakers from Toyota, Mazda, and newcomer Venture Vehicles, which is developing a fuel-efficient three-wheel hybrid (above) scheduled to launch in 2010.
David Stokols and Guy Mangiamele of Automotive Marketing Consultants, Inc., moderated and several other AMCI employees volunteered their time to help make the conference a success. "Our goal was to give the automotive industry a voice" said Stokols, AMCI's president and chief executive.
"We wanted members of the environmental community to understand the challenges in developing more fuel-efficient technologies."
One vehicle maker participating in the panel that definitely captured the attention of veteran environmentalists attending the show was Venture Vehicles, which is developing a plug-in hybrid three-wheeler that the company says will deliver fuel economy of more than 100 miles per gallon.
While the VentureOne will be classified as a motorcycle (as is any motor vehicle with fewer than four wheels) the "urban life vehicle," as Venture founder and chief operating officer Howard Levine likes to call it, has a fully enclosed seating compartment for two -- the passenger sitting behind the driver.
Both sit atop the battery pack and electronics and in front of the gas and electric powerplant, according to the company's illustration (right).
The company said that 20,000 people had pre-registered for the vehicle that will sell for approximately $25,000. The VentureOne's unique wheel-tilting technology will provide stability for the small, lightweight vehicle.
"Southern California has a huge influence on auto culture around the world. We can support change by adopting it here first," said AMCI's Stokols.
Speakers from the mainstream auto industry took pains to explain why that change hasn't happened as quickly as some want.
Robert Davis, senior vice president of product development for Mazda North America, said it takes an auto manufacturer about $6 billion and eight years to develop an alternative powertrain, while Toyota's Mary Nickerson said her company has been working on development of a plug-in hybrid since 2001 -- and won't be ready until late next year for a real-world test program.
That's when Toyota -- which was downplaying the idea of plug-ins even as it was working on one -- plans to start selling or leasing a model to commercial and government fleet customers in the U.S. and Japan.
The company hasn't said when it might begin retail sales.
Nickerson, whose full title is the tongue-twisting "national manager, cross-vehicle hybrid marketing," works for Toyota Motor Sales USA, the giant automaker's national distribution, marketing and dealer development operation.
She said that because a plug-in needs to deliver more all-electric range than a conventional hybrid, it needs a bigger battery, "which weighs more and reduces efficiency" which then has to be boosted through other advanced technologies that take time to develop and perfect.
Another issue with plug-ins is the fact that only one out of six Americans have a garage, and thus a likely place to charge a plug-in at night.
We don't know if the mainstream automakers' message -- alternatives for the mass market are tough to do -- got through, but it wasn't for lack of trying.
Beyond the automotive panel, environmental speakers at the weekend event were touting car-sharing companies Zimride and WeCar.
Zimride is an online application that uses social networking site Facebook to organize carpools between friends, while Enterprise's WeCar follows in Zipcar's footsteps by renting hybrid cars to businesses for $10 per hour.
Mazda's Davis assured conference attendees that their long wait for affordable green cars was coming to an end: "Green technology is on its way -- perhaps not at the pace that everyone's happy with, but it is coming."
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Contributor Dori Merifield is Edmunds.com new product manager and a member of the company's Green Team.
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