We posted Friday about the Union of Concerned Scientists' design for the Vanguard minivan, which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40 percent using currently available technologies. Since that post, I've had an illuminating conversation with Spencer Quong, the senior UCS vehicles engineer who designed the Vanguard.
Quong, an auto industry veteran whose track record includes companies like Johnson Controls, AeroVironment, and Ford, says unequivocally that "all-electric propulsion is the endgame" and the automakers know it. In the short term, however, a proof-of-concept was needed to show that automakers' complaints about supposedly "unachievable," "unaffordable," or "unrealistic" emissions targets were just so much hot air — hence the Vanguard. "They make the same complaint for seat belts, air bags, and catalytic converters," Quong noted. "If they make more money by not installing it, then it can't be installed."
Quong addressed comments by some skeptics that while the Vanguard design might be theoretically attractive, grouping diverse systems into one vehicle can be easier said than done. "We didn't include any technologies that couldn't live happily together in a single vehicle," he insisted. "It's true that there are technologies it wouldn't make sense to combine. You wouldn't put turbocharging and cylinder deactivation under the same hood. But we were careful to include only systems with no possibility of interference."
Quong also responded to the idea that the Vanguard might be workable at the engineering level, but would be unaffordable to real-world consumers. "The Vanguard is designed to be a practical solution, and the cost of the vehicle is an important part of the equation," he said, noting that the very slight price premium involved would be recaptured almost immediately in fuel savings to consumers.
We'll be including more of Quong's remarks in a forthcoming Wired News article. Meanwhile, although no one has approached the UCS yet about putting the Vanguard into production, Quong might be open to the idea. Any takers?
