Is there any reason only car engineers should have all the fun?As I examine each element of the car we build, I'm going to use a mental model that is very useful when designing something new. I'll start by describing the model then I'll apply it to the first component so you get a sense of how to use it.The model uses the distinction between change and reinvention (sometimes called transformation).Change is inherently past-based. When one changes something, one takes what already is and modifies it. Because one has to start with something before one can change it, the result has to be based on the past.Reinvention, however, is future-based. It is future-based because with reinvention one creates from a blank canvas, from nothing, which is exactly what makes up the future.If we are going to solve our environmental mess, we're going to have to use a lot more reinvention than change. That's because change often retains the worst elements of the previous system.Let's use change and reinvention as we design our new car to get a sense of how they differ. Right now cars use an internal combustion engine. Engines are defined as devices that produce their own power, in this case through a chemical process (combustion), to produce the kinetic energy that performs work.A motor is a device that converts power from an external source into kinetic energy. It's because the electricity is generated elsewhere that one always hears of an "electric motor" but never an "electric engine."If we want to use change with respect to the motive device of a car, that's easy: keep using an engine and simply change the fuel. Change will give us engines that combust natural gas, or diesel, or biodiesel, or ethanol or even hydrogen. If the result is an engine – no matter what chemical reaction is used to create the kinetic energy – we've still used change.It's possible to examine a different element of the system and see that we're using change. All the energy sources listed above require a chemical process, combustion, to create kinetic energy. Because of that, even radically new engine designs like those from companies like www.regtech.com are still using change. Because it is still an engine based on combustion, no reinvention is occuring.But when we use reinvention, what can we create? To explore that, we have to dump the engine and look for other ways to provide kinetic energy.The obvious first reinvention is to use an electric motor. We don't care so much where the electricity comes from at this point so long the work is not provided by an engine.Another possible motive device uses electromagnetism, which is what gives maglev trains their name.I'll keep exploring change vs. reinvention as we move around the car. But I'll leave you with a piece of homework.If we switch to a horse pulling a carriage, have we used change or reinvention?

In my previous entry, I looked at how vertical integration using car sharing services was a wonderful way to introduce new technologies to the marketplace, lower the cost of personal transportation and lower the overall environmental impact of transporting ourselves.One of the features of car sharing services is that they work best in dense urban areas. To make them useful to a suburban dweller, In one of the comments I introduced the idea of bringing the car to the renter. Just like there are pizza delivery people who will bring you your dinner, there could be car delivery people who bring you the car you requested at the time you requested. They then zip back for the next pickup on a (motor)bike in the trunk. The Scooter Patrol does this in California for people who have drunk too much and need their car driven home.This system works for people who live in the suburb and need a car to make several stops in one day or need it to transport something in the trunk. It definitely does the job, but it doesn't have the lowest impact on the environment, nor does it help with the congestion on the roads to the city from the suburbs.Let's say that I'm a suburban dweller and can get to the city using public transportation. Because I want to perform several errands while there, I still want a car once I arrive. How can we handle that?
I'm going to borrow a term from the telecom industry, and refer to this as the 'last mile' problem. The obvious solution to the last mile problem is to have a car sharing service ready with my car once I arrive. Instead of arranging for a pickup at my home, I reserve a car on the other end of my journey. This neatly gives me the lower environmental impact of mass transit to the city and the flexibility of personal transportation.
To encourage people to use this system, a city could exempt users of car sharing services from a congestion charge for access to the core of the city. The overall environmental impact would be on average lower, the city would become more livable (due to it have less paralyzing traffic jams) and people would still have the flexibility they require to accomplish their tasks in the city.

Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, we have three car sharing organizations, Zipcar (www.zipcar.com), Flexcar (www.flexcar.com) and City Car Share (www.citycarshare.org). Zipcar, by the way, has just started service in London.I haven't used any of these services because they don't have cars near where I live in the suburbs, but the idea makes wonderful sense. Instead of owning a car, just rent it by the hour.Most of the time my car sits in its parking spot. My wife and I calculated that the cost of owning, maintaining and operating her 1996 Honda Civic was about $15 per driving hour. Zipcar will rent you that same car – maybe even a better one -- for $8 an hour including fuel.There are parking spots all over the city where one can pick up a car from these services. When you're done with your errands, just drop it off where you got it.So if you were interested in introducing a new type of transportation into the marketplace, the first place I would start is with these types of organizations. Why? Simply because they control the customer experience from end to end.Not only that, since most of these cars are not used for more than small errands, it's possible to introduce technologies that aren't yet ready for long distance trips.For instance, if Zipcar were to purchase only electric vehicles, the cars could be plugged in between each use – completely eliminating the need to visit fueling stations. In fact, Toyota is pioneering this concept by providing Tufts University (Boston) with several Toyota RAV4 electric vehicles to use in their Zipcar implementation. What are these car sharing services actually integrating? Let's take a look.

• They provide downtown parking as well as the use of the car. In a major city, this is a major benefit.


• They integrate the cost of refueling. Zipcar users fill up the gas at no extra cost whenever it gets below ¼ of a tank. They use a fueling card kept in the glove compartment.


• In the case of electric cars, they integrate the time of refueling. That job is done in between rentals -- especially overnight

What other form of integration is possible? Here are a few more:

• use the existing reservation system to allow Zipcar users to reserve prime parking spots in downtown parking garages -- perfect for midday stops


• partner with other transportation modes, like ferries, trains and buses, to eliminate the time and hassle of paying for each leg of a multi-mode journey


• permit private homeowners to rent their parking spot to allow neighbors access to a shared car

These car sharing companies are taking the first steps in vertical integration. What other levels of vertical integration do you see possible?www.InspiringGreenLeadership.com