Wheels: On E.U. Carbon Emissions Rule, First the Announcement, Then the Uproar

For First Time, E.P.A. Proposes Reducing Ethanol Requirement for Gas Mix

The move was expected, but it drew bitter complaints from advocates of ethanol, including some environmentalists, who see the corn-based fuel blend as a weapon to fight climate change. It was also unwelcome news to farmers, who noted that the decision came at a time when a record corn crop is expected, and the price of a bushel has fallen almost to the cost of production.

“We’re all just sort of scratching our heads here today and wondering why this administration is telling us to burn less of a clean-burning American fuel,” said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association.

Farmers, ethanol producers and high-tech companies trying to make renewable fuels from wastes have all invested heavily in the ethanol industry, with an expectation of a heavy demand, advocates said.

But the E.P.A. said that a big part of the problem was that automobile fuel systems and service stations were not set up to absorb more than about 10 percent ethanol. Most cars on the road, according to the automakers, and most fuel pumps, according to service station groups, are limited to the current mixture, called E10, and there has been little demand by consumers for more.

Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, said that the ethanol interests were relying on “a continual government program that is an anachronism in 2013, that is seriously flawed, that puts consumers at risk, that consumers don’t want.”

The timeline for phasing in enormous volumes of renewable fuel is laid out in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, but the schedule has turned out to be impractical, forcing year-by-year adjustments. In the years since the law was passed, imports of oil have declined sharply and domestic production has risen.

Meanwhile, American oil production has increased in ways not expected in 2007, because of a new drilling technique, horizontal drilling in shale combined with fracking, the same technique that has flooded the market with natural gas.

Last month, domestic oil production exceeded oil imports for the first time in years. That has led the oil refiners to argue that requiring ethanol use to displace oil imports is no longer so important, and that the whole system of mandates should be dropped.

At the same time, there has also been a decline in the overall demand for motor fuel, and it is poised to go yet lower. Demand had been growing, year by year, and Congress expected it to continue to do so. The 2007 law set ethanol quotas that would have meant a modest percentage increase in the amount of ethanol used in the mix.

Instead, ethanol became an unexpectedly large percentage of total fuel supply, and began to push up against the barrier of 10 percent, the maximum ethanol fraction allowable in most gasoline.

Millions of cars can handle blends of up to 85 percent ethanol, “flex fuel” vehicles, but few consumers like that fuel so few filling stations sell it.

Those that do are struggling. For example, on Nov. 6, a Sunoco station at a suburban mall in Potomac, Md., about 15 miles northwest of the E.P.A. headquarters, opened an E85 pump, with a formal ribbon-cutting and speeches by Maryland officials. But the manager, Amit Sharma, said Friday that the pump was selling only 60 to 70 gallons a day. “It’s nothing,” he said. One problem, according to Mr. Sharma and others, is that many people drive the flex fuel vehicles, but do not understand that means they can accept up to 85 percent ethanol.

In another strategy to dispose of rising volumes of ethanol, the producers have pushed the E.P.A. into allowing a blend that is 15 percent ethanol rather than 10, but few gas stations are equipped to sell that, and since it is approved only for newer cars, few stations have spent the money to refit their pumps to handle it. In addition, trade associations for companies that make power garden equipment and boat engines complain that that fuel will cause breakdowns.

The E.P.A. will now take public comment, which is certain to be voluminous, as the issue is crucial not only to corn farmers, who produce most of the feedstock for ethanol, and for oil companies, whose product can be displaced by the fuel, but also to all other corn customers, including livestock producers, grocers and restaurant chains.

Ethanol, the most prominent of the renewable fuels, divides environmentalists. It may involve modestly lower carbon production, but the increased market for it may also have increased farmers’ use of fragile, marginal land. Its effect on fuel prices at the pump is disputed.

First Glance: Lincoln Joins the Crossover Party

Ford Motor took another step toward revitalizing its moribund Lincoln division in Manhattan on Wednesday when it unveiled a production version of a new small crossover utility, the MKC.

The MKC, which will be Lincoln’s first entry in the red-hot market for upscale compact crossovers, had been previewed in concept form at the Detroit auto show last January.

Although based on the architecture of the Ford Escape, the MKC is distinct from its sibling in look and feel, a testament to its designers’ bag of tailoring tricks.

The MKC’s face shares the winglike grille pattern of the MKZ midsize sedan, with narrow raptor-style high-intensity headlamps. Sculptured sides seem to add length. Another of Lincoln’s new graphic cues is the taillight design: a narrow, continuous strip across the back end.

Seeing the MKC makes the MKZ look better: Lincoln’s new design themes are now clearer. But some of the sculptural verve of the concept vehicle has been toned down, especially inside: The interior air vents no longer echo the wings of the grille.

Jim Farley, Ford Motor’s executive vice president for global marketing, sales and service, and for the Lincoln brand, said the MKC would start at $33,995, which he said was some $5,000 below German competitors. The crossover is to go on sale early next summer as a 2015 model.

In an interview, Moray Callum, chief of all American design for Ford brands — and who will soon become the design chief for the entire company — said Lincoln was establishing a clear identity. “We want a family look,” he said. “The vehicles should look related, but not identical. They should vary by type.”

Lincoln plans to introduce a new model in each of the next four years.

The MKC will offer two versions of the turbocharged direct-injection EcoBoost 4-cylinder engines. It will share its 240-horsepower 2-liter engine with the Escape. A new 2.3-liter 4 will put out 275 horsepower and 300 pound-feet — more than some rivals’ 6-cylinder engines, Mr. Farley said.

He said the MKC was aimed at younger customers and baby boomers who are downsizing from larger S.U.V.’s but want luxury features. “This segment has grown 200 percent since 2009,” he said. Rivals include the Acura RDX, Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes-Benz GLK.

One option is another Lincoln brand theme, a huge panoramic moonroof.

A technology called Approach Detection is intended to make the car seem friendly: When the driver approaches with the keyfob, the car lights up head to tail, illuminates the door handles and deploys illuminated “welcome mats” — Lincoln’s star emblem — on the ground next to both front doors.

The vehicle also comes with a liftgate that can be activated by the motion of a foot, convenient for shoppers who return to their vehicles with hands full. A smartphone app can be used to control many functions, like programming the car to start at specified times.

Lincoln is also promising what might be called “road to autonomy” options like a smart cruise control and a lane-departure system. In addition to the self-parking feature already found on some Fords and Lincolns, the MKC will offer “park out assist”: The vehicle can maneuver itself, hands-free, out of a tight spot.

With Bluecar, Vincent Bollor wants to first popularize its battery technology

Launched in December 2011, the syst me French CarSharing Autolib' a evidence that the small town four places, and especially its 'lithium-m tal-polymer re' battery technology, held the road. If it is sometimes uncouth e jug by s passionate of the automobile, the Bluecar has demonstrated its reliability. S PR of 12 million kilom very have travelled in some eighteen months by the 63,000 ile s Subscriber - ann e or casual - this service which has 1 750 v vehicles in circulation.

In addition to a syst me long rental hard e - from 300 euros per month - Mr. Bollor esp re sell approximately 2,000 copies of its Bluecar three-quarters aupr s companies or fleets. "Today, with Autolib, we have special clients, and more than 100 SMEs - SMIs that support packages for the use of 25 2 000 hours, explains Quer Chau, the Director g n ral Autolib." Commen ons also equip Bluecar large companies, as the Cr says agricultural, Atos or Alstom. Some, instead of rent, want to buy their v vehicles."?

A CO COSTLY TECHNOLOGY

The boss of the group n goce and energy eponymous does esp re however not yet return to its costs. "For our me CarSharing Autolib, which co you about EUR 50 million per year, we need to attract 65,000 Subscriber s e ann [144 euros e ann] to balance our mod the." For the moment, we have 25,000. This means that we are still losing money. We should achieve the balance in the spring of 2014, esp re Mr Bollor. "And as much say system me alone will not enable us to return to our costs..."

It is that since the purpose d and ann 2000, group d j engulfed pr s two billion euros for the development of battery technology d and the design of the car. S D then, Mr. Bollor would swarm in other wealthy French cities and European communities. "We aim to Lyon and Bordeaux and other parts of the world..."

To achieve the balance, Bollor does not frankly on his car, m business me if projects with manufacturers are the medium-term study. This branch has achieved 12 million euros of turnover in 2012, less than 5% of sales business its battery business, which was 215 million euros the year established pass (for 350 million euros of investments).

ELECTRICITY STORAGE

"Our business model is on three pillars: battery, capacitors [that allow to operate a camera flash, for example] group d is 40% of the world market, and energy management solutions", insists Mr Bollor. It is this last pillar, which is the most promising, with two main targets.

Mr. Bollor wants to convince individuals from to equip to a 'bluebox', a battery and software power management, which allows you to store the electricity when it co te cheaper network, overnight for example, and use the day, when the tariff increases... Bollor is r mun accept taking a margin on the savings achieved.

Sustainable energy producers, Blue Solution offers to store energy in a unit s most important, of the order of 1 megawatt-hour, or 33 30 kw/h batteries. E id is this time to store the electric bill the time network absorbs... In addition to Bluecar, are these offers which should, long term, profitable plants production of batteries, which can produce 45 000 batteries of 15 s pr or 30 kw/h... And that is what pushes Mr. Bollor will introduce its activity storage of electricity by the end of 2013.