TPT November 2018

G LOBA L MARKE T P L AC E

pipe, the steel may corrode, causing the pipe to lose strength over time and leading to a risk of catastrophic failure. The researchers found that by laminating a thin layer of graphene nanoplatelets to polyamide 11 (PA11) – a plastic often used in pipe liners – they were able to produce structures that behave as exceptionally good barriers. The multi-layered laminate structures, tested at 60°C and at pressures up to 400 times atmospheric pressure, were reported to reduce CO 2 permeation by over 90 per cent compared to PA11 alone. Permeation of H 2 S was said to be reducible to undetectable levels. › According to Peter Budd, who led the Manchester team, “Our work represents an important step in taking graphene out of the laboratory and into the real world.” And, given its potential to extend the life of underwater pipework and thus reduce the time between repairs, the technology does appear to hold considerable promise if it proceeds to commercial development. According to Advanced Materials Interfaces , corrosion of pipes in marine applications costs the oil and gas industry $1.4 billion a year in the USA alone. Automot i ve A flash Twitter poll suggests that 75 per cent of car shoppers want more affordable electric cars, not more expensive ones Twitter polls are scarcely scientific, and Green Car Reports took care to note that its latest poll – enquiring just how much buyers are willing to spend for an electric car – has a low sample size and the respondents are self-selected. Even so, with a flood of electric cars about to enter the US market and tax credits beginning to expire for some established brands, the question is of some interest. (“How Much Would You Spend on an Electric Car? Twitter Poll Results,” 29 August) The $35,000 Model 3 Tesla has not yet materialised. Available Tesla models start at about $50,000 and make up more than half of all electric cars sold. This led Green Car Reports to wonder if electric cars will work like other new technologies: starting with expensive luxury products and working their way down to a more affordable mass market rather than expanding from a more affordable base. Other luxury electric cars are on the way from Audi, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, in addition to potentially half a dozen startup electric automakers. The first of these, the Jaguar I-Pace, will start at almost $70,000. And new models from mainstream automakers such as Ford will not target budget buyers either. “Even more basic electric cars are not that cheap,” wrote Eric Evarts of Green Car Reports . “For buyers who want more than 200 miles of range, even the base Chevy Bolt EV costs $37,495 before rebates and incentives. And GM’s tax credit is set to wind down next year, too. The Nissan Leaf costs almost $31,000.” To get a sense whether its readers consider electrics to be luxury cars, the 20 August Twitter poll asked precisely how

much they would be willing to spend on an electric car. It turned out that only a quarter of the 421 respondents would go straight for the Tesla or another luxury model and spend more than $45,000. Here are the full results: • 21 per cent would spend less than $25,000

• 35 per cent – $25,000-$35,000 • 19 per cent – $35,000-$45,000 • 25 per cent – more than $45,000

› Mr Evarts thought it noteworthy that that the largest portion of respondents to the magazine’s Twitter poll, 35 per cent, hoped to spend between $25,000 and $35,000 – about what it would cost to buy a basic electric car in the US today after deduction of the $7,500 federal tax incentive. Ride-hailing services may seem an attractive transportation choice, but the AAA offers some bracing cost statistics Whether you own a vehicle or not, ride-hailing services are a convenient transportation option, said John Nielsen, a managing director of the Automobile Club of America (Heathrow, Florida), a federation of motor clubs throughout North America. However, he continued, “With the average American city-dweller driving nearly 11,000 miles per year, a personal vehicle is still the more cost-effective choice.” Mr Nielsen’s assessment grew out of an analysis, published on 21 August by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, showing that the average driver in an urban area – the only setting in which the use of ride-hailing services is a practical full-time transportation option – drives 10,841 miles per year. While urban drivers travel fewer miles than those living in smaller towns or rural areas of the USA and Canada, the study found that reliance on ride-hailing services as a primary mode of transportation would cost $20,118 annually. This equates to more than twice the cost of owning a personal vehicle, even when the expense of fuel, insurance, parking and the vehicle itself are factored in. For its annual “Your Driving Costs” study, AAA analysed the costs of ride-hailing services (including the use of an occasional rental car) in 20 major urban areas. On the basis of the average number of miles travelled by city- dwellers, annual ride-hailing costs ranged from $16,944 (in Dallas, Texas) to $26,397 (in Nashville, Tennessee). According to data from the study, the average annual outlay to purchase and operate a new vehicle, the costliest form of vehicle ownership, is $7,321 for 10,841 miles of travel. Since parking costs can be a major ownership expense for those living in urban areas, AAA also analysed the cost of flat- rate parking per year, which ranged from $706 (in Phoenix, Arizona) to $8,088 (in New York City), with an average of $2,728. It was found that, for those with access to free parking, reliance on ride-hailing services is nearly three times more expensive than vehicle ownership in these cities. › Said the AAA’s Mr Nielsen, “For those who travel a very limited number of miles annually, or have mobility issues that prevent them from driving a personal vehicle, ride-hailing can be a viable and important option.” Then, stating the obvious, he added, “But for everyone else the car is still king.”

Dorothy Fabian, Features Editor (USA)

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NOVEMBER 2018