The Rise Of Green Vehicles Marketing Essay

The Rise Of Green Vehicles Marketing EssayIntroductionA car park vehicle is a take vehicle that has little dangerous and less deadly effects to the environment than any regular flatulency or diesel engine supply vehicles. The major(ip) inspiration of the development of substitute fuels and ballpark engineering are to reduce the harmful environmental impacts and to create the mentality of diminution dependency to oil. Based on what customers majority demand in automobile industry low fuel consumption, low cost, low reverberate pollution, state-of-the-art technology, and environmentally friendly, manufactures are signifi privytly are transforming their technology to the atomic number 19 vehicle technology. Green vehicles are proponented by pick fuels and allow in hybrids, galvanic machines, ethanol, hydrogen cars, natural gas, plug-in hybrids, biodiesel, and air cater vehicles. Latest trend of the green vehicles popularity was significantly caused by the face liftin g of oil prices. People are trying to find other ways to save their money from purchasing gas for their gas/diesel powered cars. Tax saving also contributes to the rise of green vehicles popularity in various countries such as United States and European Union. According to IRS website, The Energy policy Act of 2005 replaced the clean-fuel burning deduction with a task credit. A tax credit is subtracted directly from the total amount of federal tax owed, thus reducing or even eliminating the taxpayers tax obligation. The tax credit for hybrid vehicles applies to vehicles purchased or placed in service on or after(prenominal) January 1, 2006 (www.irs.gov).This paper leave answer several questions that people might be curios about. First, I depart discuss the causes of the booming market of green vehicles in the last decade. Secondly, I lead discuss the controversies of GMs electric vehicle EV1 and its relation to the conspiracy theories with Oil Company.BackgroundAs mentioned be fore, green vehicles include hybrids, electric cars, ethanol, hydrogen cars, natural gas, plug-in hybrids, biodiesel, and air powered vehicles. crosss combine two or more different propulsion systems, typically a gasoline engine and one or more electric chock up motors. Most hybrids on the road today compliment their gas engines by charging a outpouring when breaking. Engines running on diesel or other alternative fuels can also be used in hybrids. A hybrid drive is fully scalable, which means the drive can be used to power everything from small commuter cars to large buses and even locomotives. crossbreds get more MPG or miles per gallon than most non-hybrids, and usually induce very low tailpipe emissions (greencar.com). Electric cars create zero localized emissions since theyre propelled by electric motors that run on batteries charged at home, or special electric vehicle charging stations. Electric cars are passing efficient and run for pennies per mile, much cheaper than any other alternative fuel. Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. As a fuel, ethanol can be used in more than 30 flex fuel vehicle models that have been designed to run on alcohol, gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels from the same tank. Most ethanol today is produced from corn or sugar cane, although this will change as cheaper cellulosic ethanol make from fast growing woody grasses and other biomass becomes a reality. Hydrogen cars perhaps the cleanest of all alternative fuels, burning with move uply zero emissions in an internal conflagration engine and with emissions of only water vapor and heat in an electro-mechanical fuel cell. Natural gas, the cleanest-burning fossil fuel, is being used by an change magnitude number of medium- and heavy(a) commercial vehicles like refuse trucks and delivery vans. Natural gas is stored and used in its liquefied or compressed states. It is most commonly abbreviated as LNG for Liquefied Natural Gas, and CNG for compressed Natural Gas. While a variety of light-duty natural gas cars were once ready(prenominal), the only factory-produced natural gas car make today in the U.S. is Hondas Civic GX. Plug-in hybrids boast great potential for improving fuel economy. Plug in hybrid technology allows gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles to be recharged from the grid and run many miles on battery power alone. A gas engine provides additional cause range as exigencyed after the battery power is gone. Plug in hybrids may never need to run on anything but electricity for shorter commutes. The combination of gas and electric driving technologies can already achieve up to 150 mpg. Biodiesel is a renewable alternative fuel made from various sources ranging from waste vegetable oil to soybeans. It can often be used seamlessly in diesel engines of all kinds. Biodiesel is a cleaner fuel than standard petroleum diesel. Since it can be produced locally, biodiesel has the potential to flow our dependence on foreign countries for oil, and enhance local economies where biodiesel production is taking place. Air powered cars are relatively new to the green car scene. Compressed air is currently being explored as a viable alternative fuel to efficiently power car engines with little or no environmental impact (greencar.com).Going back to the history of green vehicles, they have been around for around almost 120 days. Jake Richardson in his article 9 Electric Cars c Years Old or More explains that the premier(prenominal) green vehicle ever made was 1891 Morison. Made by William Morrison in 1891, around say the Morrison was the first electric vehicle in America. Ithad a four horsepower engine, and couldcarry 6-12 passengers. Top speed was about 20 mph. The batteries needed to be recharged every 50 miles. It has been verbalise the car was actually completed in 1887 and was driven in a Des Moines parade in 1888. If that is true, the Morrison was first built 122 year s ago, and it was built in America, where today they arealmost no electric cars on the roads. Next is electrobat, produced from 1894-1899. Electrobats were made for several years in Philadelphia. The first ones were very heavy and used steeltires to support a large lead battery. They employed twin 1.5 hp motors andhad a top speed of 20 mph. They could go 25 miles on one charge. Next is the 1900 Riker. Riker is a bulky enclosed cabin four passenger sedan that was made about the turn of the century the Riker have electric side lamps, wooden-spoked wheels, and a voice tube so passengers could communicate with the driver. Cabin windows could be raised and lowered. 48 battery cells were onboard, with an electric engine near each rear wheel.The drivers seat was about 6-7 feet in the air. Next is 1901 Riker torpedo. Andrew Riker, the founder of Riker Electric Vehicles, made the Torpedo in 1901 to be the fastest car on the road. Next is the 1902 Studebaker, 1906 Krieger, 1909 Babcock, and 1 909 Bailey (http//gas2.org). It hasnt been seriously developed until the 1973 when the oil crisis strikes. Paul Lucas in his article The History of Green Motoring explains that in the 1980s, attempts to develop the green car construct reached new heights. In Switzerland for example, there was an annual race for solar-powered vehicles called the Tour de Sol. This ran from 1985-1995. In 1991, BMW created a pair of battery powered E1 concepts that failed to get past the concept stage. In the same year, the Citroen Citela was born with a range of 130 miles and top speeds of 70mph. GM also introduced its first purpose-built electric vehicle, the EV1, from 1996-1999. Since the turn of the millennium the concept of green cars has expanded at a phenomenal rate. This is because of the contribution of the expansion of hybrid cars, which effectively plug the gap between electric cars and conventional vehicles. Popular models include the Toyota Camry, which was once acclaimed as the top-selling passenger vehicle in America, and the Toyota Prius which in 2007 was the number-one selling hybrid vehicle worldwide. The concept has even been introduced into larger vehicles such as the Lexus RX400h, an off-roader. The Volkswagen BlueMotion Polo, which became available in 2007, cut CO2 emissions even further. Hydrogen fuelled cars arrived in 2006 through the BMW 7 Series, while the cut through Airstream was introduced in 2007 with a lithium battery that was topped up by a hydrogen fuel cell (www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk).Major ReasonsSo, what exactly encouraged the rise of green vehicle popularity? One of the major contributors to the popularity of green vehicle is the increase of oil prices all over the world. The advancement of technology is causing the green vehicles to consume less gas. Ricky Lim in his article 3 Advantages Of Hybrid Cars Over Conventional Cars explains that Combining the cleaner energy of an electric motor with the long range capacity of a gasoline engine a llows a hybrid car to save as much as 30 miles a gallon (http//ezinearticles.com. One of the technologies of hybrid cars is that they will only use the gasoline engine during constant speed such as highways speed. During the stop and go traffic, the electric engine will be functioned thats resulting in saving fuel. People forever wonder on why hybrids cars are extremely quiet during idle. It is because the gasoline engine is turned off. The electric engine doesnt produce any noise at all. Here are the data of gas consumption on some of the hybrid cars Ford run away 31.9 mpg Honda Accord 29.4 mpg Honda Civic 46.2 mpg Honda Insight 55.3 mpg Lexus GS 450H 23.5 mpg Lexus RX 400H 25.3 mpg Mercury diddly-squat 29.5 mpg Nissan Altima 34.3 mpg Saturn Vue 25.9 mpg Toyota Camry 36.5 mpg Toyota Highlander 26.4 mpg Toyota Prius 47.5 mpg (www.greenhybrid.com). Based on www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com, Hybrid car gross sales statistics have shown steady growth over most of the last five years, but sales peaked in early 2008 (at 45,000 vehicles) and showed a steady decline in the split second half of 2008 with sales starting to recover somewhat in kick back 2009. Considering the spike in oil and gasoline prices up to about July of 2008, and their rapid decline once the economic downturn hit later in 2008, its non surprising that sales show a peak followed by a steady drop. Fortunately for hybrid car manufacturers, gasoline price increases in the second through fourth quarters of 2009 have been accompanied by a return to higher hybrid car sales (http//www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com/hybrid-car-sales-statistics.html). Take a cypher at this chart, which shows three data series hybrid car sales statistics by month, a 12-month moving average of hybrid car sales, and average US gas prices per gallon, from January 2004 to December 2009 (www.green-energy-efficient-homes.com)According to carsdirect.com, the August 2009 hybrid car statistics show that o f the more than 200,000 hybrid cars exchange in the U.S. year-to-date (YTD), the Toyota Prius is the top selling vehicle. There were 93,810 Prius sales through August 2009, with 18,886 units being sold in the month of August alone. Behind the Prius were the Toyota Camry, which sold 17,630 YTD, Honda Insight, selling 14,045 YTD, Honda Civic at 14,014 units sold and Ford Escape in the top 5 at 11,222 units sold YTD. In the month of August, Toyota Prius sales were 49% of all August U.S. hybrid sales. Camrys August sales made up 5% of hybrid sales, Insights comprised 11%, Civics 2% and Escape sales were 4% of all August hybrid car sales. There were 38,701 hybrid cars sold in the United States in August 2009. Sales of the Toyota Prius were 1% of all car sales in the month of August. All hybrid sales were 3% of the car sales that were made in the month. The number of hybrids sold in the month is up 48.6% over the same time period in 2008, show a rise in the popularity of these vehicles by American drivers. Toyota, Honda and Ford are the largest makers of hybrid vehicles, with the most sales and models.Toyota features the top-selling Prius, Camry and Highlander models. Honda has the Insight and Civic while Ford produces the Escape and Fusion hybrid vehicles (www.carsdirect.com). Based on www.mixedpower.com, from the states hybrid sales statistics in 2008, California sold the most hybrid cars with 39,830 units followed by New York 8,810 Florida 8,612 Texas 8,255 and Illinois 6,107 (www.mixedpower.com).The increasing of environmental awareness also contributes to the rise of green vehicles popularity. Alexandria Haber in his article The Facts About Hybrid Car Emissions and Global Warming explains that hybrid cars catch ones breath out-of-the-way(prenominal) lower levels of pollutants in the air than conventional cars, resulting decreased pollution and reduced effects of global warming. Because no two people drive the same way, it is thereof difficult to estimate, but emissions can be reduced from 25% to 90%, when comparing hybrid cars to conventional gas-powered vehicles (www.buzzle.com). Ricky Lim also in his article explains that hybrid cars emit lower toxic emissions compared to conventional gasoline-powered cars due to less gasoline being burned (www.buzzle.com). It is environmentally friendly, causes less pollution and releases less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (http//ezinearticles.com). confidential information oil theory also emerges and causes people to be more aware to consume more oil. Peak oil theory states that any finite resource, (including oil), will have a beginning, middle, and an end of production, and at some point it will reach a level of maximum output as seen in the graph (www.peakoil.com)This is the graph of world oil production from 1900-2080 taken from www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.netIt indicates that in the future we will have no more oil to be consumed, and the productivity of green vehicles has to be increased to decrease the dependency of oil.The last contributor to the rise of green vehicles is the tax incentives for the green vehicles buyers. It was in 2005 that Energy Policy Act of 2005 was passed by the United States congress and passed by President George W.Bush. The act, described by proponents as an attempt to combat growing energy problems, changed US energy policy by providing tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types. Consumers can itemize purchases on their federal income tax form, which will lower the total amount of tax they owe the government. In addition to federal tax incentives, some consumers will also be eligible for utility or state rebates, as rise as state tax incentives for energy-efficient homes, vehicles and equipment (www.energy.gov). According to www.hybridcars.com, the exact amount of credit given by the government may varyCurrent casesMake Model Tax Credit Audi A3 TDI (Clean Diesel) $1,300Audi Q7 TDI (Clean Diesel) $1,150BMW 335d (Clean Diesel) $900BMW X5 xDrive35d (Clean Diesel) $1,800Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid $1,300Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid $2,200Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid $2,200Ford Escape Hybrid (2wd) $3,000Ford Escape Hybrid (4wd) $2,200Ford Fusion Hybrid $3,400GMC sierra Hybrid $2,200GMC Yukon Hybrid $2,200Honda Civic Hybrid $2,100Honda 2005 Civic Hybrid (auto) $1,700Lexus GS 450h $1,550Lexus LS 600hL $450Lexus RX 400h $2,200Mazda Tribute Hybrid (2wd) $3,000Mazda Tribute Hybrid (4wd) $2,200Mercedes GL 320 Bluetec (Clean Diesel) $1,800Mercedes R320 Bluetec (Clean Diesel) $1,550Mercedes ML 320 Bluetec (Clean Diesel) $900Mercedes S400 Hybrid $1,150Mercury Mariner Hybrid (2wd) $3,000Mercury Mariner Hybrid (4wd) $2,200Mercury Milan Hybrid $3,400Nissan Altima $2,350Toyota Camry Hybrid $2,600Toyota Highlander Hybrid $2,600Toyota Prius $3,150Volkswagen Jetta TDI (Clean Diesel) $1,300Volkswagen Touareg TDI (Clean Diesel) $1,150Despite of its cons, green vehicles have the cons as well. Phillip Dunn in his artic le Hybrid Cars Pros and Cons explains that all this new technology comes at a price a hybrid car is complex and expensive. It has two motors and all the ancillary systems to manage them increase a heavy battery and a regeneration system used to produce electricity during breaking. Hybrids are the most gasoline efficient of all cars they typically get 48 to 60 mpg (claimed). Not bad, but only about 20% to 35% better than a fuel efficient gasoline powered vehicle like the Honda Civic, for example, that gets 36 mpg. But, when comparing prices hybrids cost from $19,000 to $25,000 and gas saver cars cost $14,000 to $17,000 the justification to buy becomes less clear. Much of the fuel efficiency comes from improvements in aero dynamics, weight reduction and, the biggest change a smaller, less powerful gas engine. In fact, any car will get substantially better milage just by reducing the engine size. The main reason this is not done has to do customer demand they want the extra pow er and zippiness (www.physorg.com).EV1 Controversies.Since the rise of green vehicles popularity, have the oil industries been affected tremendously? In the 1990s oil was getting scarcer and the pollution produced by combustion engines was becoming recognized as a very serious problem. Consumers began to demand some solutions that would save their world, their bank accounts and their breathing from gasolines bad effects. Like mentioned earlier, electric cars have been around for 110 years from the first time its been made. Alexandra Paul in her article Who Killed my Electric Car? explains that in 1900, electric cars outsold both gasoline and steam vehicles because electric cars didnt have the vibration, noise and dirtiness associated with gas vehicles. But soon afterward with the discovery of Texas crude oil that reduced the price of gasoline, the invention of the electric starter in 1912 that eliminated the need for a hand crank, and the mass production of internal combustion engi ne vehicles by Henry Ford the electric vehicle went the way of the horse and crackers (www.cnn.com). In the 1990s oil was getting scarcer and the pollution produced by combustion engines was becoming recognized as a very serious problem. Consumers began to demand some solutions that would save their world, their bank accounts and their breathing from gasolines bad effects. In 1990 California passed the ZEV, requiring 2% of new vehicles sold in California to be emission-free by 1998, 10% by 2003. In response to ZEV, GM launched their revolutionary car EV1. The EV1 required no gas, no oil changes, no mufflers and rare brake maintenance. The success of electric vehicles would have threatened the status quo and core business models of two of the worlds biggest industries oil and automobile. Electric cars are a threat to the profitability of the conventional gas-powered auto industry. GM said that it spent more than $1 billion to market and develop the EV1 (www.ecosherpa.com). Not onl y would a successful electric car program cannibalize sales of conventional cars, but the electric car costs the auto industry in other ways lacking an engine, it saves the driver the cost of replacement parts, motor oil, filters, and spark plugs. The EV1s regenerative braking system, in which the cars electronic controls handled much of the work of slowing down the car, spared the cars mechanical brake system from wear. Brake parts and repair is a billion-plus buck industry alone. The EV1s efficiency was a winner for consumers but a loser for the auto industry. Despite of its advantages, EV1 still had its disadvantages it was only available to be leased to the customary it was only available for three year leases with no option for renewal or purchase at the end lease period. Leases ranged from $299 to over $574 monthly which was fairly expensive at that time. EV1 also had a short range (around 80 miles) and no backup system. It took 12 hours to fill up the battery. All in all, GMs EV1 has brought pros and cons to the public. It was with child(p) the oil industry, yet it also had major weaknesses to sustain its existence.In conclusion, the popularity of the non-traditional energy sources is increasing since more than two decades. People have realized the importance of the green vehicles for the environment. The rise of green vehicles has been encouraged by the uncontrollable increases on gas prices, the awareness trend to save the environment, and also the tax incentives that is given by the government. The electric cars need to be existed for one more time because with the advancement of technology, it wouldnt be difficult to produce a better car than GMs EV1. Electric vehicles will admirer tremendously to conserve the oil that has been consumed uncontrollably.