Transportation
Reforming the Automobile Fuel Economy Standards Program: Letter to the NHTSA
In this 2004 letter to the NHTSA, Amory Lovins challenges the agency’s proposed policy about the Automobile Fuel Economy Standards Program. He argues that NHTSA’s policy should be performance-based, not prescriptive; that the standards should be neutral as to vehicle mass, or favor the down-sized vehicles; if fuel-economy choices are…
Hypercars, Hydrogen, and the Automotive Transition
Designing and making cars differently and emphasizing ultralight weight, ultralow drag, and integrated design can reduce required propulsive power by about two-thirds. This can make direct-hydrogen fuel cells and commercially available compressed-hydrogen-gas tanks practical and affordable even at relatively high early prices. Coordinating such vehicles with deployment of fuel cells…
Design and Manufacture of an Affordable Advanced-Composite Automotive Body Structure
Reducing vehicle weight is critical to improving fuel economy and addressing range, performance, size, and cost challenges associated with fuel-cell and hybrid propulsion systems. This paper describes the design, fabrication, and assembly approach used for the carbon-fiber composite body structure in Hypercar, Inc.’s Revolution concept vehicle. The Revolution’s 187-kg body…
Eight-Fold Way Towards Faster Energy Efficiency
In the keynote presentation to the ECEEE Biennial Meeting in 2001, Amory Lovins presented his idea of eight ways to accelerate energy efficiency. The presentation shows multiple policy approaches and argues that these trans-ideological approaches work better and faster than traditional pricing and regulating structures. He shows alternatives to conventional…
Hypercars: Uncompromised Vehicles, Disruptive Technologies, and the Rapid Transition to Hydrogen
This presentation by Amory Lovins summarizes the nature, status, and prospects of Hypercar development. It includes a description of how Hypercars accelerate the shift to a hydrogen economy. The presentation describes the Hypercar design concept and strategy for bringing a Hypercar to market. In the presentation, Lovins also argues that…