Electric Car Blogging

Filed under: EV/Plug-in

Just last week we found out that lithium ion battery maker A123 Systems had filed the first batch of paperwork required for it to make an initial public stock sale. Having tried to read through a few of these kinds of filings in the past, we took a pass this time around. Fortunately our friends at GreenTechMedia waded into these waters and noticed some interesting items. Since companies have to disclose all sorts of information about risks and benefits they face when going public, A123 discussed sales. Until now, A123’s biggest customer has been Black and Decker, although A123 also has two separate development contracts with General Motors for the Saturn VUE PHEV and something called the Volt. The S-1 filling only mentions reduced revenue from its most significant customer without explaining which of the two companies that is. This could mean a number of things. It could mean that A123 is on the losing end of one or both of the GM production contracts which would definitely be a bad thing for A123. The other and perhaps more likely possibility is Black and Decker. Black and Decker uses A123 batteries in its premium DeWalt line of power-tools. DeWalt tools are more commonly used by contractors and other professionals while general consumers typically opt for the cheaper Black and Decker brand. The same collapse of the housing market that has killed sales of full-size pickup trucks over the past year could be having an impact here. If new homes aren’t being built, contractors don’t need new tools to put in the new trucks they aren’t buying either. A123 can’t really say anything specific right now because of the legally mandated quiet period, but GM should be making an announcement in the next few months about the Volt battery supplier. Thanks to Rick for the tip!

[Source: GreenTechMedia]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: EV/Plug-in

These days, radical claims concerning new alternative and green vehicles are flying rampant, with Shelby Supercars, Ronn Motors and now Fosh Automotive all making semi-announcements. Fosh Automotive? Yeah, we hadn’t hear of them either before now, but they are making some outrageous claims on their website. To wit:

“In our pursuit to completely reinvent the auto industry, we are going to make one hell of a run at making the world a better place. Can we give you a little hint? Well, our lawyers have given us specific guidelines in which we must not deviate from. Off the record: It could be the first unlimited mileage, electric car. This said car might have a revolutionary, self-regenerating battery system. This car would have some of the sexiest curves and doesn’t resemble any electric car you have ever seen. Oh, and best of all, what would you say if you could buy this car for under ,000?“

Any time a brand-new company claims it will reinvent the auto industry, eyes roll. After all, it takes years of development and tons of money just to get a single new car off the ground. We suspect that the company has some new technology to deliver, and an internet search provides a few possible hints. For instance, PetroZero quotes a company source as saying, “There are solar type panels throughout (none visible) the car, that will turn heat into energy.”

Our tipster links us to this article on Engadget which introduces a new technology from The Idaho National Laboratory, which is “composed of tiny gold antennas set in polyethylene plastic is tuned to gather 80 percent of energy from infrared rays” and can therefore produce electricity from any source of heat. An unlimited-range EV for less than K? We’re intrigued, and so we wait until August 18 when the company says it will show its cards. Thanks for the tip, Sam!

[Source: Fosh Automotive]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, GM, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Green Daily, At Witz End

Triumph of technology set the stage for the future

• Our gift is a world of opportunity. To leave it a better place than we found it is our greatest gift to the next generation. - Ken Baker, GM Electric Vehicles
• “Since when does being an auto engineer makes you smarter than scientists specializing in the field?” - ABG reader John, on my 8/3/08 column, “Global Warming Pro.” (Yes, “Pro”)

Well, John, maybe not smarter, but maybe educated enough to have a valid opinion.

Engineers become engineers because - like people who become scientists - we are good at math and science, including physics, chemistry and biology. We study the same things eventual scientists do, then branch out into specialties. Some choose geology or climatology. I chose automotive engineering because I love cars and wanted to help make them better.

As technically trained people, engineers have a good understanding of what makes things work, how elements interact and what is physically possible…and not. We know that vehicle fuel economy is mostly about size, weight and aerodynamics. We know that technology can incrementally improve efficiency, but also that technology costs money. To redirect an old racing adage, how efficient can you afford to be?

Unlike typical non-technically trained people - including most government bureaucrats, lawyers, legislators and journalists - we form opinions and make decisions based on facts and data, not emotion and opinion. We have long-established BS alarms that go off when someone tries to tell us that something we know is physically impossible is not. We know there is no 100-mpg carburetor or 40-mpg SUV (If either was possible, why wouldn’t someone be making a fortune building and selling them and blowing away all their less-enlightened competition?).
That said, let me tell you about the most exciting, challenging and inspiring engineering assignment I’ve ever had: Vehicle Test and Development Manager for what became the GM EV1. I know the real story behind General Motors’ 1990s electric vehicle effort very well; I was there, working my proverbial tail off on it, and you can start reading this tale after the jump. A warning, though: those who harbor strong negative perceptions about EV1 and GM’s intent for it - from that recent ill-informed crockumentary or some other non-knowledgeable source - may not want to read this, because the real true story will not reinforce what you already think you know.

Continue reading At Witz End - GM’s EV1, the True Story, part I

Permalink | Email this | Comments

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

Bob Boniface the director of the E-Flex design studio at GM is in Traverse City MI this week for the Management Briefing Seminars. We already saw the new teaser shots of the Volt released yesterday and Green Fuels Forecast had a chance to speak with Boniface following his presentation. Boniface elaborated on some of the design changes that have brought the Volt to where it will be for production. The slim packaging of the battery pack down the center tunnel and the re-shaping of the body have not only reduced the drag but also increased interior volume. As we’ve heard before, the drag reduction was key to helping achieve the 40 mile electric range target for the Volt. GM has also posted a new wind tunnel video that gives a further hint about the overall shape of the Volt that you can check out after the jump.

Update: There’s an extra video added after the jump of the Boniface presentation from MBS that includes additional images.

[Source: Green Fuels Forecast]

Continue reading VIDEO: Bob Boniface discusses the changes to the production Volt

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Zap

Kids today. Give them a new toy and before the sun goes down it’s been taken apart, hacked, and maybe even improved. Jeff isn’t exactly a kid and he picked up this toy some time last January but a Xebra isn’t exactly an Playstation so it took a little time. The point is he wasn’t totally satisfied with his ride and took it upon himself to bust out the power tools and make some changes. He also made an entertaining and somewhat instructional video of his Xebra hacking adventure which is definitely worth 7 minutes and 51 seconds of your time.

The finished product is faster, goes farther and is definitely better looking. Before the mods, his 3-wheeled truckette had white paint and a top speed of about 38 mph (in the presence of a strong tailwind) and lost lots of speed going up hills. After upgrading the wiring, adding a battery and increasing the voltage, it can go 45 mph and stay strong on the hills. The range seems improved as well. From the picture above you can see some of the cosmetic changes; black paint, l.e.d. lights, 2 inch drop and the bed is long gone. That’s all the hacking this little ZAP Xebra is going to get for now. The plan for the future is just to see how many miles he can add to the existing 4,400. Check out all the all the madcap mayhem after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

Continue reading VIDEO: ZAP Xebra hacked!!!

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Solar, Transportation Alternatives, Green Daily, European Union

I’ve had the pleasure to visit the beautiful island of Tenerife a few times, which is the largest of the Canary Islands. Being a very mountainous island, it’s a difficult place to build a railway system, but they’re catching up with a new tramway line which serves the island’s capital, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the nearby town of La Laguna. The company that is building it just got the permission to install a very large array of photovoltaic panels to produce electricity directly from sunlight, so that most of the energy needs of this tramway will come from the sun. The 600 kW system is expected to have a lifespan of 20 years.

[Source: Energelia]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in, Volkswagen, Germany

Although the current signature for the “greener” VW Golfs is BlueMotion, there have been at least two models in the Golf’s past that should be considered green for their time. German’s Auto-News has published a complete report about special-edition Golfs and there are two green variants: One is an ancestor of BlueMotion itself and the second one is an EV.

Back in the early ’80s, VAG-group cars had a formula to save gasoline which was called “E” and was used for large cars such as the VW Passat or the Audi 100. The trick was a button on the steering wheel that turned off the engine at traffic lights. The engine came back to life when engaging first gear. Sound familiar? Basically, this is what modern Stop/Start systems perform automatically. However, the 1981 Golf E with a stick shift of 3+E gears, could only save fuel with improved aerodynamics on the A-pillars, narrower tires and a fuel economy display that also suggested when to switch gears. The engines? A whopping 50hp gasoline or a 54hp atmospheric diesel.

Regarding EVs, Volkswagen introduced an all-electric Golf in 1995. Called the “City Stromer” (City Electric), it really showed the effects of the 16 massive (and, at 480kg, heavy) lead-acid batteries that fed the 24hp motor: 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) took 27 seconds. After some additional research, we found that this Golf could only carry 4 people, used a SIEMENS three-phase alternating current synchronous motor with permanent magnet excitation which was water cooled. Performance is far from a Tesla Roadster’s: maximum speed of 100 km/h, and a range of 70 km in summer and 40 in winter. But it had brake energy recovery, and those numbers aren’t too terrible, right? We even found a video of this one after the jump (in Czech).

[Source: Auto-News]

Continue reading Learning from the past: two green Golfs almost lost to history

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Legislation and Policy, USA

Johnson Controls-Saft has been awarded a contract worth some .2 million for the development of lithium ion batteries and the associated system that goes into making them an automotive-ready pack. The goal is to find out how feasible the planned push for PHEVs really is. According to Mary Ann Wright, head of the Johnson Controls-Saft joint venture and vice president at GM for Johnson Controls’ hybrid battery business, “Specifically, key goals for this PHEV contract are to optimize cell and battery system design for 10-mile and 40-mile electric range vehicles.” See the press release after the break for more on that.

Well, good, right? Sort of. The agencies that awarded the money are the United States Advanced Battery Consortium and the U.S. Department of Energy. Of these two organizations, Wright says, “The fundamental issue that we have in the government … is they’re ignorant,” adding that the organizations “need to be completely revamped.” At issue seems to be the lack of standards and sufficient incentives for auto-spec batteries from the American manufacturers in cooperation with the government. For our part, we know that there is only so much money to go around, so we can only hope that it’s being spent in the best possible way.

[Source: Johnson Controls-Saft, The Detroit News]

Continue reading Johnson Controls-Saft get .2m for batteries, calls money-givers ignorant

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments