This brings Ford's total investment in powertrain engineering and facility upgrades in North America to $1.8 billion for the 2011 vehicle launches alone, with more to come. The revamped engines and transmissions are part of a five-year effort, which began in 2008, to overhaul all of Ford's powertrains. One of its most advanced new engines will be a new normally aspirated 2.0-liter direct-fuel-injection engine, the first of its kind for a North American Ford vehicle, which will be deployed in the 2012 Ford Focus. See the Ford press releases on the engine investment and the 2012 Ford Focus.
Chrysler is also revamping its powertrain lineup, implementing technology that will lead to an overall fuel-efficiency improvement of over 25% by 2014. Through its alliance with Fiat, the company's five-year business plan has added a powertrain offensive, including a progressive vehicle electrification strategy.
The overhaul includes adopting Fiat technology such as Multiair, Fiat's patented electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation technology. Fiat will also add its direct-injection, turbocharging, and six-speed transmission systems to Chrysler's portfolio. Four-cylinder engine options are being expanded at Chrysler with the introduction of Fiat's 1.4-liter and 2.4-liter four-cylinder engines, both featuring Multiair. As part of its five-year plan, the Chrysler Group is currently developing a hybrid version of its Ram 1500 pickup for 2010. The company also continues its plan with the DOE to build a small test fleet of plug-in hybrid Ram 1500s and minivans. See the Chrysler press release.
NREL Finds U.S. Wind Potential Larger than Previously Estimated
The maximum potential to generate wind power in the U.S. is more than triple previous estimates, according to a study by DOE's National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).
The analysis, developed with AWS Truewind, LLC, is based on updated computer models and examines the wind potential at wind turbine hub heights of 80 and 100 meters. Previous studies were performed at hub heights of only 50 meters, which were more representative of commercial wind turbines in the early 1990s. The study also has a spatial resolution of only 200 meters, compared with the previous national study, which had a resolution of 25 kilometers. The updated model filtered out urban areas, water areas, and lands such as parks that could not be developed for wind power. It represents the maximum amount of wind power that could be reasonably developed in the contiguous US.
U.S. wind potential depends greatly on turbine hub heights and the capacity factor that developers are willing to accept, says the study. The capacity factor is the amount of power produced per year divided by the amount that would be produced if the wind turbine operated at full capacity all the time.
Capacity factors for today's wind plants are typically around 30%. For a 60-meter hub height, the study finds that 10,459 GW of wind could achieve a 30% capacity factor, generating nearly 37 million GWh of electricity a year.
As noted by AWEA, the previous government survey of U.S. wind resources, published by DOE's Pacific Northwest National Lab in 1991, pegged U.S. wind potential at 10.8 million GWh. The new study still found a huge potential at a 40% capacity factor, with 5,577 GW of wind capacity generating nearly 22 million GWh of wind power per year.
