EVLN(Honda Insight's chief engineer Koichi Fukuo: many fine adjustments)

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EVLN(Honda Insight's chief engineer Koichi Fukuo: many fine adjustments)
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Honda takes pole position in eco-stakes 09/28/1999 The Yomiuri
Shimbun/Daily Yomiuri Copyright (C) 1999 The Yomiuri Shimbun; Source:
World Reporter (TM) - Asia Intelligence Wire

Masaru Kawanishi Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer
The development of environmentally friendly vehicles, or so-called
eco-cars, is accelerating, with automakers launching more
fuel-efficient models to meet growing demands that harmful emissions
be curbed.  The ultimate eco-car, which emits only water vapor, is
currently being tested to enhance its commercial viability, and the
century-old automobile industry is fast approaching a crossroads.

Earlier this month, Honda Motor Co. President Hiroyuki Yoshino
announced that the firm aims to raise the average level of fuel
efficiency for its cars By about 25 percent from 1995 levels by 2005. 
Yoshino also said the firm hopes to cut emissions of carbon dioxide
and nitrogen oxides in exhaust gas to a quarter of 1995 levels during
the same period.

Honda's announcement of the target figures, intended to raise
awareness among the public of its drive to protect the environment,
was the first to be made by a domestic automaker.

As proof of its desire to meet those targets, Honda plans to launch in
November a two-seat car called Insight, which, according to the auto
giant, will be the world's most fuel-efficient.

Insight is a hybrid car that is powered by a combination of a gasoline
engine and an electric motor. The rear wheels of the streamlined
vehicle are half-covered by the rear fenders to reduce wind resistance
and increase fuel efficiency.

When the ignition key is turned, the Insight engine ticks over
quietly, minus the noise that is usually generated by gasoline
engines.  When the car moves off and accelerates, the engine is
assisted by the electric motor, which cuts off when the car runs at
high speed.

While decelerating, the motor acts as a generator, efficiently storing
energy that would otherwise be lost. When the car stops, the engine
automatically shuts off to keep fuel consumption to a minimum.

Insight's harmful exhaust emissions, including nitrogen oxide, are 50
percent less than the standards due to be introduced by the government
next year.

The use of aluminum to make the main body of the vehicle reduced its
weight substantially.

According to Honda's chief engineer Koichi Fukuo, the final
specifications of the Insight model were realized after many fine
adjustments had been made to the initial design, and the most suitable
voltage had been found for the electric motor. These efforts produced
a highly efficient rate of fuel consumption--35 kilometers per liter
of gasoline--twice as efficient as regular vehicles.

The nation's first hybrid car was Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius, which
gets about 28 kilometers per liter. Sales of the car have bettered
Toyota's expectations, with 30,000 units sold since its launch in
December 1997.

The popularity of Prius ignited competition among manufacturers to
develop more environmentally friendly automobiles and, with Nissan
Motor Co. also planning to launch a hybrid model next year, the
indication is that green cars are set to become the next-generation
vehicle.

Interest in environmentally friendly cars was first raised in the
1970s after crises in the oil industry. Automakers originally focused
on developing cars that run solely by electricity. However, these were
plagued by various problems, such as a lack of infrastructure,
including facilities to recharge batteries.

During the 1990s, interest in producing fuel-efficient cars has been
rejuvenated as pollution problems have been elevated to the global
level, and major automakers at home and abroad are locked in intense
competition over the development of fuel-efficient cars that minimize
carbon monoxide emissions.

Aside from developing hybrid cars, automakers are also conducting
research into vehicles that do not use gasoline at all.

Mikio Ura, a senior researcher at Nissan, said of the nation's first
fuel cell-car unveiled by the firm in May: "It is the eco-car of the
future with excellent power-generation efficiency. The exhaust is as
clean as the air." Electricity is generated in the fuel cell as a
result of a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen, an ideal
method for protecting the environment, as the only by-product of the
process is water.

Although space in the rear-passenger-seat area of Nissan's prototype
is restricted by the power-generation system, Ura explained, "We
eventually hope to make it small enough to install underneath the car,
and make it (the car) completely commercially viable by 2003."

In an indication that competition is also intensifying on an
international level, Ford Motor Co. of the United States unveiled a
prototype eco-car at one of Europe's biggest motor shows, held
recently in Germany. Other companies, meanwhile, are conducting
research into the development of cars that can run on natural gas or
dimethylether.

Though there are many hurdles to be cleared before fuel-cell cars can
be made available to the public, including increasing the range of
such vehicles and establishing the relevant infrastructure, a senior
member of the Japan Electric Vehicle Association's technology research
group predicted that they will become commonplace within the next few
decades.  "Automakers will continue to work toward improving the
efficiency of hybrid and electric cars for the time being, while
conducting research into fuel cell vehicles," he said.
 ...
 http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/index-e.htm  webmaster@yomiuri.co.jp
The Yomiuri Shimbun
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