Ask AP: Extracting oil sands, buying plug-in cars

In just a couple of years, you'll be able to have your very own Toyota gas-electric hybrid that you can plug into a household outlet.

Well, sort of. It won't quite be your very own; it's only being made available to leasing customers.

Why is it that plug-in cars aren't usually offered for outright purchase?

That's one of three questions answered in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

In just a couple of years, you'll be able to have your very own Toyota gas-electric hybrid that you can plug into a household outlet.

Well, sort of. It won't quite be your very own; it's only being made available to leasing customers.

Why is it that plug-in cars aren't usually offered for outright purchase?

That's one of three questions answered in this edition of "Ask AP," a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers' questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you'd like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with "Ask AP" in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

I have read that Canada and Venezuela have large amounts of oil sands, or bituminous sands. Could you explain what this is, and whether the extraction of this type of oil could add any significant amount to the world supply?

Claudio Cortez
Lima, Peru

You're correct: Canada and Venezuela are two countries with large bitumen deposits, which also are known as "oil sands" or "tar sands."

Bitumen is a tar-like form of petroleum that can be upgraded to synthetic crude oil. But producing it, which can involve strip mining, is energy intensive and generates more emissions than conventional crude.

In particular, the Canadian province of Alberta is home to vast reserves of oil sands. Industry officials estimate the region could yield as much as 175 billion barrels of oil, which would make Canada second only to Saudi Arabia in crude oil reserves.

In western Canada, oil sands production has grown fourfold since 1990 and exceeded 1.2 million barrels a day last year, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. That could grow to 3 million barrels a day by 2015 — not an insignificant amount, given that the current global output of oil is roughly 85 million barrels a day.

Investment in oil sands is expected to reach $100 billion by 2020, Canadian officials have said. Royal Dutch Shell PLC and ConocoPhillips are two of the players with a stake in Canadian oil sands, joining others who've gotten involved as high oil prices have made the costly ventures more economical.

Not everyone, however, is gung-ho about the prospects for increased oil sands production. In a recent report, environmental groups in the U.S. and Canada said a large portion of proposed U.S. refinery expansions is to accommodate the heavier oil, which they say will lead to further pollution.

John Porretto
AP Business Writer, Houston

Toyota has announced they will introduce a plug-in hybrid car in 2010. As with electric vehicles produced in the mid-1990s, it will be available only on a lease basis. What is the rationale behind this policy?

Philip Blackwelder

Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Many automakers choose leasing rather than selling for products that are totally new and still a bit experimental. That allows them to keep closer tabs on their customers and know how the vehicles are working.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s plug-in car runs on both a gasoline engine and an electric motor, much like the hybrids on the road today, except that it can also be recharged from an ordinary electrical outlet. That allows the plug-in to run longer on electricity — and be more green — than Toyota's Prius and other common hybrids.

This technology is still so new it makes sense that Toyota would want to keep an eye on how the cars are being used.

Another factor is cost. Leasing makes the price of innovative vehicles easier to swallow — shelling out for full retail would be a pricey proposition, while the monthly lease rate might come across as more reasonable. Toyota has not yet said what customers will pay to lease the new plug-in car.

Yuri Kageyama

AP Business Writer, Tokyo

I have noticed in the past couple of years that the journalism community has abandoned the traditional plural spellings of terms such as "fora" (forum) and "symposia" (symposium). One interesting exception is the term "media." I don't recall seeing the term "mediums" when an article is referring to multiple newspapers, networks, etc.

What is the reasoning behind these pluralization policies? It is frustrating to see the media "teach" its young readers improper language.

Rob Brantley

Alexandria, Va.

The AP Stylebook advises adding "s" for most Latin-root words ending in "um." These include "forums" and "symposiums," the preferred plurals in Webster's New World College Dictionary, the stylebook's main reference.

The stylebook's entry for "media" notes that the word is plural in the sense of mass communication: The news media are resisting attempts to limit their freedom. In contrast, "mediums" is usually used to describe artistic endeavors: Robert Rauschenberg's mediums knew few bounds.

For certain other words, Latin plurals live on in standard English — and in AP style — because they remain in common use: curricula, addenda, alumni and alumnae.

David Minthorn

AP Manager for News Administration

"Ask the Editor" columnist, APStylebook.com

Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.

Vancouver inventor charged up about electric car

One is his ElectriCar, a four-door, four-seat, plug-in hybrid car ready to hit the highway in about a year. The first 100 cars will be sold as “kit cars,” assembled and driven away one at a time, for between $20,000 and $30,000 each. Mass production will come later.

His other invention is the AirCar, a Jetsons-style car that runs on gasoline, and is designed to drive the highways at up to 85 mph and fly at 200 mph for up to 1,000 miles. It’ll probably cost a driver-pilot about half a million dollars.

The ElectriCar runs now, experimentally, while the AirCar hasn’t left the ground. It’s still in the modeling stage.

Milner knows the AirCar is a fantasy trip but still expects to sell working flying cars in about three years or so.

“I’ve wanted to build a flying car for 30 years,” said Milner, 65, who has quietly designed his prototypes at his Vancouver home along the Columbia River.

Milner declined to say publicly how much he has invested in his inventions, but it is considerable. He believes the investment will pay off for him and his partner son, Chris, of Bethesda, Md.

In these days of soaring gasoline prices, however, it’s the ElectriCar that Milner is pushing hardest.

“The flying car will change the world for one-tenth of 1 percent of the people,” he said. “But the electric car can change it for 10 percent of the people.”

Both prototypes will be available for public viewing during a spring rollout at Pearson Field, 1115 E. Fifth St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 14. Milner will talk about the vehicles then. Many other airplanes will be shown and aircraft parts will be laid out in a swap meet at that time.

Once a pilot

Milner was a United Airlines pilot from 1969 to the mid-1980s and has spent more than 35 years in the aviation industry, working also as a flight instructor. He made enough to finance his inventions by running an aviation school from 1972 to 1997 and then organized a nationwide computer-based testing business for aspiring pilots.

Three years ago he sold that business, LaserGrade, retired and went to work on the designs. A native of Canby, Ore., he has lived in Vancouver since 1991.

“There are a half-dozen electric cars that are being built by small groups like we are,” said Milner. “Fortunately, a lot of them are like Tesla in California, which is doing a two-door, zero-to-60 in 3.9 seconds, testosterone vehicle, a sports car. Subaru is building a two-door, two-seater, and that seems like a good effort, and Mitsubishi is building a vehicle.”

The ElectriCar is unique because it is a family car, he said. It will resemble a Toyota Camry or a Honda Accord.

“We’ve driven it on Lower River Road up to 60 mph, and it drives well, real stable,” he said, patting the low-set, silver-colored vehicle. “It’s easy to drive, lightweight at just 1,250 pounds.

Milner figures the time is ripe for an electric family car as gas climbs toward $5 a gallon and beyond.

“The electric car is really what has the possibility of changing the world,” he said. “We decided to do almost the Volkswagen of electric cars. Comfort and good gas mileage. It’s coming along.”

Built of fiberglass on a steel frame, the ElectriCar will cover 100 miles on two hours of battery power, he said. It can be recharged at night in the garage. To travel more than 100 miles, the ElectriCar will come equipped with a 10 horsepower, gasoline-powered generator to recharge on the run. An hour’s charging will consume a gallon of gas.

“The gasoline generator will come on when the batteries get low and then charge for an hour,” he said. “And then you’ll have another hour of running time on battery.

In effect, the ElectriCar will require no gasoline for short runs and will achieve about 120 miles per gallon on long trips, he said. “We’re aiming to have the gas efficiency above 100 miles per gallon, because that number gets people’s attention,” he added.

“Right now we’re using two 48-volt direct-current motors that put out 40 horsepower. We have lead-acid batteries. I’m pretty sure we’ll change to AC (alternating-current) motors because they are more efficient. But DC motors are easier to come by and cheap,” he said.

If the many problems associated with electric cars can be solved, then it can be powered off the grid by electricity from coal, hydroelectric, nuclear, solar or wind, he said. That will cut down on America’s dependence on oil.

Historically, electric cars have had issues with high battery costs, limited travel distance between battery charges, charging time, and battery lifespan. But Milner says he’s close to solving all those problems, and the era of the electric car is about to emerge full-blown.

“I think that’s the way the world is going to go,” he said. “I am a lot more frantic about getting this electric car visible and out there, so we can show we’ve solved these problems.”

Perfecting an AirCar

The AirCar is a tougher challenge, he said.

The car needs to be compact to run on the highway with its wings folded, yet be readily convertible to fly. It needs two rotary engines to develop 320 horsepower to fly 200 mph and a separate 40 horsepower engine for ground speeds up to 85 mph.

It needs to have its weight distributed and its controls set up to work both on the ground and in the air. It needs adequate wing size yet compact structure to meet highway standards. It needs to minimize drag on the ground to increase gas mileage.

He expects the AirCar will achieve about 13 miles per gallon in the air. He is uncertain about mileage on the ground. Economy won’t be its strong suit.

Over the past 75 years, Milner said, there have been more than 100 U.S. patents issued for flying cars, from gyroplanes with foldable rotors to vertical takeoff vehicles. None has been a commercial success.

The problems can be solved, he said. But the AirCar won’t appeal to everyone. It will be out of reach for the family budget.

The flying car is an exciting idea whose time will come, he said, but the time of the electric car is here.