Hybrid News

Filed under: MPG, Ford, USA

Ford CEO Alan Mullaly told Detroit radio station WJR that the company is reconsidering whether to bring its smallest car to the U.S. market. Ford officially introduced the second-generation Ka last week at the Paris Motor Show and up until now has not planned to offer the car in the U.S. The Ka is much smaller than even the Fiesta that will arrive in early 2010. The rising demand for small cars in the U.S. market has prompted Ford to reconsider its marketing plans for the Ka. The Ka is available in Europe with a choice of 1.2L gas or 1.3L diesel engines. If Ford does decide to bring the Ka to the U.S., it likely wouldn’t arrive before 2010 or ‘11 at the earliest. The one thing that could make help the Ka arrive earlier would be if federal regulators grant a waiver to allow automakers to temporarily bring in small cars that don’t meet current U.S. regulations until they can be modified. If that were to happen, the Ka could arrive sooner. The diesel Ka with a start stop system is rated at 60.3 mpg (U.S.) in Europe.

[Source: BusinessWeek]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

As we wrap up Chrysler EV day, Vice-Chairman Tom LaSorda, EVP-Product Development Frank Klegon and Chief Innovation officer Peter Arnell held a conference call to discuss their new offspring. As one might the trio were deliberately vague on a lot of details but they did tell us a few things. Given Chrysler’s partnership with General Motors on the Two-Mode Hybrid system (along with Daimler and BMW) it seems reasonable to ask if the cooperation extendes to the ER-EV platforms. Klegon made it clear that Chrysler has done all the development of these vehicles in-house and with their suppliers. GM played no part in creating these vehicles, other than maybe some inspiration.

Development started in early 2007, and then moved into the ENVI group when it was formed one year ago. LaSorda emphasized that no production battery supplier has been selected and Chrysler is working with a number of vendors including A123 Systems. Given that the Jeep and Chrysler have significantly larger battery packs than the Volt, that also points to a higher price. None of the officials would talk about potential pricing at this point but they did acknowledge that they are looking at some different models. They couldn’t say which vehicle would be the first to be produced, that will depend on performance during development. They also said that these three will almost certainly not be the only such vehicles produced. The Dodge will likely get some styling tweaks to give it more of a famliy look before production. We’ll be looking for a lot more details in the coming weeks and months.

[Source: Chrysler]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

Now that we’ve had some time to find the spec sheet for Chrysler’s new EVs on the companies media site and then perusing it, we can answer some of the questions that initially came to mind from the press release. You might have noticed that Chrysler is claiming the same 40 mile electric range for its T&C and Wrangler ER-EVs that GM claims for the Chevy Volt. And yet GM had to completely redesign the car to minimize drag in order to achieve that range. How is Chrysler doing it with a brick shaped Jeep and a maxi-sized minivan? Why more batteries of course. The Volt is spec’ed out with a 16 kWh battery pack. The Chrysler uses a nearly fifty percent larger 22 kWh pack while the Jeep goes all the way to 27 kWh. The Jeep actually has a larger pack than the Dodge/Lotus sports car which only has a 26 kWh pack. That raises both questions and answers. At 26 kWh, it only takes 4 hours to charge from a 220V / 30A outlet. That kind of charge time with a Tesla Roadster is only available with an 80A outlet. The question is how do they get the 150-200 mile range with a pack roughly have the size of the 53 kWh unit used by Tesla? You can read the full spec sheet here.

[Source: Chrysler]

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep

Chrysler is playing a massive game of catchup in the electric drive sweepstakes right now and today is rolling out four different vehicles that it’s working on. Three of the four take ideas from the company’s 2008 Detroit Show concepts and are currently badged simply as Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep EV. Like the Dodge ZEO, the Dodge is a lithium battery powered sports car. The EV begins with a Lotus Europa and dispenses with the 2.0L four cylinder engine and transmission in favor of a 268 hp electric motor. In much the same fashion as a certain Silicon Valley based start-up, the only way to fuel up the EV is with a plug. It will take 4 hours to charge up from a 220V outlet or twice that long if only half the voltage is available.

The other two concepts that Chrysler showed were both ER-EVs. The EcoVoyager used a fuel cell to keep a sufficient quantity of electrons available while the Jeep Renegade used a small diesel engine driving a generator. Since neither of these vehicles is ready for production yet, Chrysler’s ENVI team has chosen the closest analogs they have as the basis for production models. Both the Town and Country and Wrangler Unlimited EVs are supposed to be able to move their occupants up to 40 miles without any direct combustion. Once the battery packs have reached depletion level an range extender kicks in to keep the fun going. Read on after the jump for more information.

[Source: Chrysler]

Continue reading Officially, official: Chrysler’s late 2010 electric vehicle lineup!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Flex-Fuel, Hydrogen, Mazda

Click above to enlarge the Mazda Hydrogen RE

As any regular reader of our site is aware, there are many issues with the notion of using hydrogen as fuel which need to be overcome before there is any chance that you’ll find yourself refilling your new car at a hydrogen station any time soon. Not the least of these is the fact that there are almost no hydrogen stations in the first place. Also, whether the hydrogen is used in a fuel cell for an electric car or burned directly in an internal combustion engine, there aren’t actually any hydrogen-powered cars available today which you can just go out and buy. Mazda may soon change all of that by introducing a hydrogen-powered rotary-engined RX-9. According to Auto Express, the new car will be dual-fuel capable, with clean credentials coming from hydrogen and performance credentials coming from gasoline. Amazingly, the article claims that Mazda’s hydrogen RX could be ready for sale as early as 2012.

[Source: Auto Express]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Green Daily, Lightweight, USA

An enterprising man in New York has managed to build an electric motorcycle which he’s referring to as the Battery Box. This term comes from the design of the frame, which is just large enough to house the battery components and is built from aluminum for minimal weight. The batteries are a lithium polymer chemistry and offer 48 volts with 40 amp hours of power. Based on the voltage, we assume that the two electric motors are DC. One motor is hub mounted at the rear and provides 6kW of power while an additional, smaller 3kW motor adds some additional acceleration when called upon.

Front forks from an Italian moped contribute to the Battery Box Motorcycle’s light weight. The builder claims that this bike represents his first design and a second, more refined machine will be offered for sale for an expected price of $8,000. Check out the video after the break for some more information. Thanks for the tip, Mark!

[Source: Battery Box Motorcycle]

Continue reading DIY electric motorcycle from New York

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chrysler, Dodge, USA

Here’s a nice story about a group of students from the Stockton Unified School District’s Weber Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology and their project to convert a 2002 Neon from gasoline to electric. The process took 150 hours, which presented a few problems. “It took a lot of planning. Thinking hurts. Sometimes it gets so frustrating you don’t really want to do it. But you think about what it’s going to be like and keep going,” according to Kevin Ford, one of the students. In the end, they truly enjoyed the project, which took just $6,500 in parts to complete, not including the car. At present, the vehicle is capable of moving about 80 miles from one charge of its eight lead acid batteries. That’s a total of 96 volts, which is most likely feeding juice to a DC motor. A cable extends out of the old gas-filler neck. The instructor, Mike Yonan, is thinking of adding some sort of solar charging solution for next year’s project. A+ from us.

[Source: Recordnet via TTAC]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc.

Deriving electrical energy from the flow of river water is nothing new. Dams have have been built on rivers to divert the flow into turbines that drive electrical generators for over a century. More recently there have been numerous projects to install turbines into tidal basins to capture the kinetic energy of the water flowing in and out. A new project in Ontario, Canada is aiming to install similar turbines directly into the St. Lawrence River near Cornwall. The provincial government is putting $C2.2 million into a project using turbines provided by Verdant Power. This particular project is expected to produce 15MW of power. Verdant estimates that up to 15,000MW could be produced from natural and man-made waterways in Canada. Verdant already has a similar project in the East River in New York City. Installation of those turbines began in 2006. The turbines are installed on fixed pylons embedded directly in the river bed and the Ontario project could generate enough energy to supply 11,000 homes.

[Source: Government of Ontario, via Green Car Congress]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, USA

Simon Property Group, a company that provides security solutions to corporations all over the U.S., has announced that it is rolling out Segway i2s to its entire fleet of shopping mall security guards. The latest purchase will make Simon’s fleet of 225 Segways the largest in the world. Apparently, the mounted security guards have been a hit with pedestrians, which provides “social interaction” that would otherwise be impossible and allows the security guards to do a better job of keeping the peace. Say what you want about the Segway, but you must admit that they are noticeable, which is definitely a good thing when it comes to security. If you frequent malls in major cities like San Diego, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami or Boston, expect to become even more familiar with security guards mounted atop their trusty steeds. There’s just one more question to ask: just how green will they really be?

Press Release:

Company now has over 225 units deployed at more than 125 shopping malls nationwide

INDIANAPOLIS, May 12 — Simon Property Group, Inc. and Segway Inc. today announced that Simon Property Group has made a substantial purchase of additional Segway Personal Transporters (PTs) that will increase its current security fleet of Segway PTs to more than 225 machines. Simon now uses Segway PTs at more than 125 shopping malls in the United States, making it the largest deployment by any company in the shopping center industry. Among the cities in which Simon Property Group now uses Segway PTs for mall security are San Diego, Las Vegas, Houston, Miami and Boston. The majority of Simon’s fleet consists of the same latest-generation Segway model (i2) recently adopted by the New York City Police Department and numerous international airports.

Simon Property Group first began its investment in Segway PTs for mall security patrols in 2004 with a trial program at mall locations in Texas. Based upon that successful pilot program, Simon pioneered the use of Segway PTs in retail security by broadening its deployment of Segway PTs and implementing specialized training programs that instructed security personnel on how to use the units in a mall environment. By 2006, Simon had initiated a national Segway rollout to its properties.

“From day one of our Segway PT program, our goal has been to give our security personnel the tools they need to ensure that our mall guests and retail partners have a safe and enjoyable experience,” says John Petruzzi, Vice President of Corporate Security and Emergency Management at Simon Property Group. “They have increased the visibility and range of our security personnel, and enabled them to swiftly respond to emergency situations wherever they might occur. The entire initiative has been very well received by our security personnel, our retail partners and millions of our mall guests. An added benefit is the social interaction between security personnel on Segway PTs and members of the public who are naturally drawn to them out of curiosity.”

Worldwide, hundreds of police and security agencies have adopted the Segway PT for their patrolling, emergency response and community policing needs. According to Jim Norrod, CEO of Segway Inc., much of the momentum that Segway now experiences in the security sector is the result of innovators like Simon Property Group. “Very early on Simon recognized the potential of Segway PTs to make security personnel more effective, and they took great care in seamlessly integrating them into their operations,” says Norrod. “As with every facet of their business, Simon delivers a premium level of service to its customers and retail tenants, and we are extremely proud that they continue to choose Segway products to ensure that their security remains world class.”

[Source: Simon Property Group]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels

Click on the image for more shots of the Deus Ex Machina concept

Bumsuk Lim, a professor at Art Center Pasadena in California, has started a new program which aims to push the boundaries of future motorcycle design. Lim projects two-wheeling as a possible green revolution of sorts, saying, “There is no point in designing existing vehicles and simply adding green technology to the same old problem when we have the opportunity, and the moment in time, to make a greater change! Why not use these new environmentally safe technologies to change the way we ride?”

Judging from the first design we’ve seen from Jake Loniak, convention has taken a back seat to design. Called Deus Ex Machina, which means God Out of a Machine, the three-wheeled vehicle is a melding of motorcycle and exo-skeleton, complete with artificial vertebrae and pneumatic muscles. A built-in helmet, which sits atop the machine at rest, tilts forward with the body of the rider, making for a leaned-forward riding position. If it were ever built, which seems rather unlikely, the vehicle is projected to accelerate to sixty in three seconds and travel up to sixty minutes at a speed of up to seventy-five miles per hour, all after a fifteen minute charge of the Doped NanoPhosphate batteries and ultra-capacitors.

[Source: GreenCarDesign via Hell For Leather]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, On Two Wheels, Green Daily, Lightweight, USA

Click above for more shots of the Saint Thomas EV

BMW once came up with the idea to enclose a scooter and add some safety equipment to it. Crash tests showed surprisingly favorable results, but the idea never seemed to catch on and the C1 is no longer for sale. The fact that it already proved unsuccessful on the commercial market once hasn’t stopped others from considering the idea. One such group is the Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. A group of students at this high school has created an enclosed electric motorcycle which uses sixty volts worth of lithium phosphate batteries powering a Briggs and Stratton ETEK pancake-style permanent magnet electric motor.

The current configuration is said to be good for a top speed of sixty miles per hour and a range of forty miles. The chassis is constructed from chromoly tubing. The body is made from a carbon fiber and Kevlar composite and should therefore prove very strong. The full seat even features a seatbelt. We are not certain that anything quite like this will ever be available for purchase again, but its good to see it in concept form at least.

[Source: The Kneeslider]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski