Hybrid News

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Culture, Hybrid, Toyota, Green Daily

Even if not everyone likes the Prius conversion aftermarket results, it can′t be a bad thing that there is one more team out there willing to add batteries and a plug to your Prius, right? The WSJ recently profiled Daniel Sherwood and Paul Guzyk of Berkeley’s 3Prong Power Inc., which will upgrade your Prius for about $7,000. That seven grand will get you an extra 5 kwh of power from 360 lbs of lead acid batteries (originally designed for electric wheelchairs), enough to go about 10 miles in electric-only mode. They also offer stiffer springs as an option to compensate for the extra weight. For more money (about double), you can choose li-ion batteries. Sherwood told the Journal that, “I don’t know if Toyota meant to do it, but they gave us a car that’s easy to hack into and easy to improve.”

Improve, maybe, but that doesn’t mean Toyota is ready to sell plug-in Priuses just yet. The rest of the WSJ article looks at the broader plug-in conversion movement, and we get this from Toyota’s Jaycie Chitwood: “For plug-ins to be all encompassing and to replace basic hybrid technology, the electric grid would need to morph into something we don’t have yet.” The smart grid? A more robust (or green) network?

There’s a video from 3Prong after the jump.

[Source: WSJ via EVWorld]

Continue reading Plug-in Prius converters 3Prong Power offer 10 miles of EV power for $7,000

Plug-in Prius converters 3Prong Power offer 10 miles of EV power for $7,000 originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Toyota

While the main storyline for Consumer Reports‘ February issue revolves around the new Hyundai Genesis and its toppling of the mighty Lexus ES350 as the mag’s top-rated entry-level luxury sedan, another tidbit of information regarding next month’s rag caught our attention. Apparently, CR purchased a Hymotion L5 plug-in Prius conversion kit from A123 Systems, and testing proved to be a mixed bag. We don’t have full details to share regarding the kit’s installation or full fuel mileage statistics, but CR’s press release indicates that the PHEV managed to increase its mpg rating from 42 to 67 over the first 35 miles of driving. Perhaps this will be an ongoing series from the consumer-oriented publication. While that kind of mileage increase is meaningful, it would take a very long time to recoup the $11,000 purchase price of Hymotion’s kit. Still, “the technology itself proved viable,” according to CR.

[Source: Consumer Reports]

Continue reading Consumer Reports tests plug-in Prius conversion, finds it lacking

Consumer Reports tests plug-in Prius conversion, finds it lacking originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:13:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, GM

It is true, as we wrote earlier today, that GM is cutting back on production launches and bringing new technologies to market, but not all is dead and gone at the Ren Cen or, for that matter, over in Ann Arbor, the home of the University of Michigan. 50 GM engineers will start taking U of M classes in January to learn more about electric drive technology.

According to the Ann Arbor Business Review, the 50 engineers will work on alternative powertrain technology that is designed to get more plug-in, standard hybrid, and BEV knowledge into GM’s brain bank. Currently, about 25 students are getting masters degrees in energy systems at U of M, a program that was started a year ago. The GM engineers will take courses online and Robert Kruse, GM’s executive director of global vehicle engineering for hybrids, electric vehicles and batteries, told the AABR that the program shows GM is “committed to the electrification of the vehicle.” Better late than never.

[Source: MLive]

Not giving up: GM and University of Michigan training alternative powertrain engineers originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Sun, 14 Dec 2008 15:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Legislation and Policy, Green Daily, USA

You read the headline correctly. According to a report by researchers at California State University, Fullterton, pollution kills more people than car crashes. How do they know? They simply added up the deaths related to pollution that were reported in two of the most polluted areas in California: San Joaquin Valley and South Coast Air Basin and did some comparison. According to the California Highway Patrol, back in 2006 there were 2,521 vehicular deaths in that area. This compares to 3,812 deaths attributed to respiratory illness caused by particle pollution. There are already studies that correlate asthma, chronic bronchitis and other respiratory and coronary problems with ozone and particulate pollution. Ozone usually comes from gasoline car exhausts and particulates from soot, dust and diesel exhausts. The study also shows that reducing pollution to Federal levels would bring California a lot of benefits: fewer premature deaths, fewer heart attacks, almost half a million fewer days of work lost and 1.2 million fewer missed school days. Oh, and two million fewer cases of upper respiratory problems. If you want to think about that in money terms (although I’m no fan of mixing health and money), the bill adds up to $112 million.

[Source: The Examiner]

Why we care: Dirty air in California kills more people than car crashes do originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Original post by Xavier Navarro

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Porsche

The recently-revealed all electric Porsche 911 from longtime tuner RUF uses an electric motor from UQM Technologies. The motor offers up some 150 kW of power and seems to be an off-the-shelf motor that the company is capable of providing for automotive use. At first glance, the motor’s 204-horsepower seems a tad low, but then you notice that its 479 lb-ft of torque makes up for that small issue. Ninety-six separate lithium iron phosphate batteries from Axeon power the motor, allowing the eRUF Model A to accelerate to sixty miles per hour in less than 7 seconds and allow for a range of up to 200 miles. UQM also has smaller motor packages available for cars that aren’t expected to have such high performance or are significantly lighter that the 4,200 lb eRUF Concept Model A. See the full press release after the break.

Related:

• Ruf reveals electrically powered 911 instead of Cayman EV

[Source: UQM]

Continue reading Ruf’s electric Porshce powered by UQM motor

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, European Union

Last year, we were introduced to the Lumeneo Smera at the Geneva Motor Show. We were impressed by its specifications, which include a 144-volt lithium ion battery pack powering dual rear wheel motors. Its four-wheeled design leans into turns, and keeps the front and rear tracks extremely narrow in order to fit into tight city streets. The Smera is capable of transporting two people for distances of up to 93 miles and can hit a top speed of 80 miles per hour. That’s pretty good, but we hadn′t heard a whole lot since.

Today, we can see a very French-looking video of the Smera in action. This appears to be a promotional video of some sort and there are no words, other than the song in the background. We can see the Smera in its natural habitat, city streets, and on the faster connecting roads as well. We can clearly see that the Smera is loved by small livestock, llamas and attractive women. An odd combination for sure, but whatever. There are Smeras appearing in silver, deep red and white and they all look very cool.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading Video: Lumeneo Smera makes a promotional appearance

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Natural Gas, Paris Motor Show

Earlier this year in March, PGO showed off a new car called the Cévennes that had some interesting mechanical bits underneath the smooth styling of the classic Porsche 356 Cabriolet. It’s pretty difficult to be taken seriously as a car manufacturer if your company doesn’t even have its own body design, and PGO looks to rectify that situation soon at the upcoming Paris Motor Show. It is also pretty difficult to distinguish any real details about the new Hemera’s looks from the teaser photo, except to see that it has what appears to be a rather upright windshield and a “shooting brake” style profile. It is definitely a two-door coupe and it likely has rather sporty dimensions, including a very short wheelbase. Underneath that bodywork is expected to be the same 1.6-liter four cylinder engine that offers up 150-horsepower and can run on compressed natural gas. Expect about 35 miles per U.S. gallon and a range of 280 miles or so, if this mystery car ever goes into production.

[Source: Channel 4]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Etc., Volkswagen, USA

Let’s get one thing off our chests right away: VW’s Routan minivan was not engineered in Germany. Instead, it is a mildly refinished version of the Dodge Caravan and Chrysler Town and Country twins. We guess that makes these vans triplets, which goes along with Volkswagen’s current marketing scheme, starring Brooke Shields. Obviously, it’s a farce, but it sure is an odd one. Shields reports that people in America are purposely getting pregnant so that they can enjoy the “German engineering″ of the new minivan. In fact, “Some 10,000 babies are born each day just for German engineering,” according to Shields, who reportedly made the statistic up on the spot. Seriously, VW says that it’s the most important story of our time. Ever.

This seems like a very odd way to sell minivans, and seemingly to people who don’t really need them. There is nothing wrong with driving a minivan if you need one, otherwise it seems a bit wasteful to use a people mover for reasons other than moving people or their stuff. Anyway, if you need a minivan, buy one. If not… don’t have kids. Or something like that.

[Source: Volkswagen]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet

Click above for more high-res shots of the Chevy Volt

Oops. It seems that the General wasn’t quite ready to show the world it’s new Chevy Volt quite yet, and the pictures of the car with all the guys in the suits was nothing more than an accident. Maybe. Marty Padgett, editor of The Car Connection and the first person to notice the pics were up thinks that the Volt pics could have been GM playing a little game and teasing us with early shots. If true, that could help explain why the shots weren’t studio shots of the car only, but who knows? We’re not complaining, as it’s nice to get an early sneak peek at the car we are most looking forward to in the next few years. For what it’s worth, we expect to see the new Volt first hand when General Motors celebrates its first 100 years as an automaker later this month. You can bet we’ll get some proper shots with nobody in the way.

[Source: The Detroit News]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Hybrid, Lotus, Lightweight

Click above for high-res gallery of the Lotus Evora

Lotus reportedly has something interesting up its corporate sleeves for an upcoming sports car project. Although nothing official has been announced, some media outlets are predicting that Lotus will offer a hybrid drivetrain on its next vehicle. The words of Lotus’ head man Mike Kimberley support this notion when he says that the automaker wants to offer “guilt-free, high performance motoring.” Like the recently released Evora, the upcoming sports car, which could be an Esprit revival, will likely use a Toyota-sourced V6 engine. In that case, it wouldn’t be a stretch to consider that Lotus would also get Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive technology as well.

Considering the fact that Lotus is already hard at work on fuel-saving technology, if this rumor turns out to be true, it would fit right into the British company’s new green image. Remember too that Lotus supplies much of the Tesla Roadster’s underpinnings, so the marque surely has gained some EV knowledge along the way.

[Source: Autocar]

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Lotus, Lightweight

Click above for high-res gallery of the Lotus Evora

Way back in Febuary of 2006, Lotus seemingly looked past its sports car roots by introducing the “Aluminium Performance Crossover “, or APX concept, which was powered by a supercharged 3.0L DOHC V6. Although the crossover had room for seven people, it weighed just 3,454 pounds — very light for a vehicle of its size and capabilities. At least Lotus hadn′t lost its “add lightness″ mantra. And, it appears that it never actually lost sight of its sports car history either, as the Versatile Vehicle Architecture originally introduced over two years ago is now the basis for its brand new Evora.

The Evora appears about as far from the APX concept as one could get, proving that its aluminum-heavy platform is just as versatile as Lotus claims. While we are happy to see Lotus continue its tradition of lightweight performance cars, we can all still hold out hope that an electric vehicle based off the APX concept could see the light of day at some point, as Lotus plans to sell just 2,000 Evoras per year, a small portion of the total VVA-based vehicles the small British manufacturer says it can produce. In the accompanying press release, Lotus says that its still spearheading research into hybrids and full electric vehicles.

[Source: Lotus via Autoblog]

Continue reading Lotus Evora first car built on Versatile Vehicle Architecture from APX

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Original post by Jeremy Korzeniewski

Filed under: Manufacturing/Plants, Tesla Motors

Over at the Tesla Motors blog, future Roadster owner Ken Jacobs has written a guest post about his recent visit to England. While he and his wife were in the UK, they hopped over to Hethel, the home of Lotus and primary assembly site of the Roadster. They were given a tour of the factory and the assembly line where Lotus employees take the thousands of bits and pieces that comprise a Roadster and bolt them together. The regular Elise assembly line has been modified to simultaneously accommodate both the Roadster and the Elise. At the moment, Roadsters are still only being started at the rate of around 4 cars per week, although that should increase rapidly later in August as Tesla prepares to switch over to the updated drivetrain. Lotus assembles “gliders″ whose motor and battery get installed once the rolling chassis arrives in California. Tesla is ships the cars by boat from England, a trip that takes several weeks.

[Source: Tesla]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Chevrolet, GM

Right now hardly seems like the time for General Motors to be planning a celebration. Its market share has dropped below twenty percent and it’s burning through cash at a rate that has financial analysts everywhere warning of bankruptcy. Nonetheless companies don’t turn 100 years old every day. With that in mind, GM is apparently planning something special for the big birthday party this September. In a bid to get people looking forward to the future rather than focusing on the apparent financial meltdown of the present, the guest of honor at the birthday party may be the production version of the Chevy Volt.

We all know that the design team lead by Bob Boniface has had to rework the Volt in order to get some decent aero numbers. The big question is how much will the design have to change from the original concept? However, even while looking ahead another two years to Job 1 for the Volt, the question of financials still can’t be ignored. With battery packs that are expected to cost upwards of $10,000 per car at start of production, GM has already acknowledged that the price of the car will be higher than they hoped at launch and they are still likely to sell it at a loss. Unfortunately, GM doesn’t have the luxury of profits elswhere in the company to subsidize the Volt the way Toyota did when they launched the Prius a decade ago. Regardless of the cash situation, this remains probably the most anticipated GM car in decades. Hopefully, it won’t bankrupt the company in process of coming to fruition.

[Source: Reuters]

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Original post by Sam Abuelsamid

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Carbon Capture

Do you hate the idea of your car spewing exhaust? There might be a way to stop it without using any expensive batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. According to the New York Times, a pair of scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) are working on a way to trap exhaust fumes (by blowing them over a liquid solution that contains potassium carbonate) and recycle the trapped carbon into either methanol, gasoline or jet fuel. F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic Jr. have named their process Green Freedom and a press release by the LANL says the recycling could be done on cars or planes. The fuel generation doesn’t take place on board - the carbon needs to be brought to a facility where the CO₂ would be turned into the fuel - and the carbon transformation process is itself energy-intensive. Kubic and Martin are working on a way to streamline this step of the dream (possibly using nuclear reactors), but they’re not there yet. Oh, and what is the dream? Recycled gasoline that costs $1.40 a gallon to make. Can′t hate that.

[Source: New York Times, LANL]

 

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Hybrid

Hybrid Technologies, the company that will bring some of its newly re-named LiV line of electric vehicles to the New York Auto Show next month, has announced that its new type of lithium ion polymer battery has passed tests and should allow electric cars to go 200 miles per charge once they′re mass produced. The improvement in the li-ion batteries is a new cathode material with what Hybrid Technologies calls a “superlattice structure″ where some of the transition metal is replaced by lithium. This new material allows batteries to operate anywhere between 4.3V to 2V. Successful industrial-scale synthesis means that Hybrid Technologies expects these batteries to be used not only in EVs but also UPS power back-up systems. There’s lots more at the Hybrid Technologies website. Thanks to Scott S. for the tip!

[Source: Hybrid Technologies]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Original post by Sebastian Blanco