Thanks for passing on this anecdote relating the opinion of a person at Toyota. I think it's of some use to try to piece together what some executives at these companies are thinking and seeing.
As I think this out, I'm not sure, but I think it may be the first time I've ever seen any executive anywhere at an auto company verify, even just fourth-hand, even just by incidental reference, that they have a problem defying the wishes of the Oil industry. I mean: the first time I've really seen this in writing. My take on Toyota, and some of the other companies such as Honda (the first to introduce a hybrid to the U.S.), is that they have approached some of these matters like this: they are ahead of many (not all, but many), of the alt-fuel and better-mileage efforts of the other companies. Therefore, so the reasoning goes, they can get away with (for now) not pushing the envelope "too much" to the point where it might violate any de facto (explicit or implicit) edicts they have received from those who supply fuel for their products. Thus, for example, we see Toyota doing a pretty good EV, and knowing that some of its customers in the U.S. want to keep it, and buy more (such as the Utility SCE which has owned two or three hundred and would be glad to keep many of them or buy more) but they hide behind the usual... liability law concerns, supposed lack of demand, costs too high... whatever excuses seem handy. Other tactics include I think preserving "plausible deniability" for some executives... By this I mean that they may keep themselves unaware that there is demand for alternatives. It seems to me I heard of one incident where Greg Hansen, a California Activist for EVs, was able to get this through, very slightly, at a meeting a few years ago where a Toyota executive claimed that consumer demand had been poor for the RAV4 EV (or something like that... it's been awhile since I heard this story) and Hansen, in a particularly lucid exchange held forth from the audience that the RAV4 EV HAD NEVER BEEN OFFERED TO CONSUMERS in California. If I recall (and I might not be correct) it had been offered as a lease (but not a purchase to fleet people). The Executive seemed unaware of this and soon thereafter Toyota did allegedly make the RAV4 available to consumers not only by lease but by purchase. But they only did it at 25 or so California dealerships, only in limited numbers (that ended once they were all bought up), etc. Apologies if this story has inaccuracies... it's been awhile. So, what we see here, is this idea of Toyota being slightly different, a little bit ahead, but (after pushing the envelope a little) still returning in the end to comply with the (apparently) worldwide in-force rule against any major manufacturer making it possible for consumers to *consider* buying a vehicle that does not push them into using petroleum-industry fuel. Consumers are then inaccurately informed that they have allegedly considered and rejected such vehicles. This is an addition of insult-to-injury that we may be surprised to see honorable executives at 'better' companies contribute to, but I think it "is what it is". Many of us, myself included, are admirers of Toyota, above many other companies, but when a friend or an admired person or an admired company lies, sometimes we don't know what to say, except to point it out. I'm sorry Toyota, but you're not telling the truth. Period. You're fudging. Stop it. We've had it. This is not to say that your friend or acquaintance was lying... When I talk about lying I mean that Toyota and a few others get away with their real policy (adhering to fuel company wishes, for now) while fudging things in public and stating a somewhat different set of reasonings (i.e.: claiming that "nobody wants" thus-and-such vehicles, or that the economics of mass production do not apply to certain technologies, or that emissions are allegedly too much of a problem of thus-and-such vehicle-and-fuel combination, or that PHEV vehicles are not for now an idea worth pursuing, etc.) MM On Tue, 11 May 2004 15:55:19 +0900, you wrote: >Yes, true. > >A couple of years ago Tokyo's populist mayor, a far rightwing buffoon >named Ishihara, launched a cheap-vote-catching campaign against >diesels, the DieselNo! campaign: cure the symptom instead of the >disease. The main complaint is the usual one in such cases, NOx. >Everyone's frightened of confronting the petroleum lobby, so that >doesn't come into it, and the automakers decided to jump on the >bandwagon for the sake of the short-term gains to be made from >selling more new cars. So, there are more and more restrictions on >diesels, especially diesel cars, and it's spreading beyond Tokyo. Not >many Japanese seem to know that the Japanese automakers do make >highly efficient, very clean, diesel cars, but only for export, to >Europe, not for Japan. > >A Toyota executive who got interested in biofuels wrote to me and >said this, among other things: "... our company would be afraid to >introduce products which determinedly confronts not only petroleum >major, but also grain major..." Amazing. The Clean Air campaigners >told Midori the same thing. > >A silly story. Of which our friend Wada-san was a victim. He found >himself being forced to spend many millions of yen on a new, >gasoline-engined car that he didn't want and didn't need. And he >loves his VW (94 Golf 3). It was fitted with a catalytic converter, >which hardly worked at all because LSD fuel is still rare here (and >only 50ppm), so too much sulphur, lots of black smoke. He had it >cleaned up and started running on biodiesel (no sulphur) which he >managed to buy from one of the very few outlets here (poor quality >but better than nothing). He also rigged an electronic control for it >(he works for IBM). He had to pay I think 300,000 yen to put the car >through emissions tests to prove that it was within the DieselNo! >limits. He used petro-diesel for the test (LSD), and the cat >converter worked well because of the previous use of biodiesel. And >it passed the test, for both NOx and PM. So now he drives his diesel >in a DieselNo! area. Very interesting. Others will follow. > >There are also additives available which lower NOx emissions with biodiesel. > >Best > >Keith > > > >>True. >> >>Also true for SVO. >> >> biodiesel/SVO owners can add these if they wish to reduce emissions >>even further. >> >>...just don't run any North American diesel in it if so fitted!! >> >>You could also conceivably add particle traps, since the particulate >>emissions are usually reduced 30-50%. >> >> >> >>Edward Beggs >> >> >> >> >>On Monday, May 10, 2004, at 07:35 PM, Andrew Lowe wrote: >> >> > Does my memory serve me correctly in that one of the "advertised >> > benefits" of biodiesel is that it contains no sulphur hence diesels can >> > be fitted with catalytic converters? The reason they aren't already is >> > that the sulphur poisons the converter. If this is the case then won't >> > the new requirements actually be good for biodiesel, assuming the >> > engine >> > companies do fit the catalytic converters? >> > >> > Regards, >> > Andrew Lowe > > > > >Biofuel at Journey to Forever: >http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > >Biofuels list archives: >http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ > >Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. >To unsubscribe, send an email to: >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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