Electric Car Blogging

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Santa Monica Alt Car Expo

During the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo, someone joked to me that the Lola EV, a flashy electric kit car, was the “poor man’s Tesla.” Paul Pearson, the man behind the project, said, “That’s a compliment,” but there’s really no comparison between the two other than that they’re two-seat sports cars that run on batteries. The Lola EV has a 70-75 mph top speed and Pearson called it a very Southern California type of car. There are no opening doors, for example, and there’s no roof (so, it may look like a convertible, but it’s not).

Steve Graber of Graber Cars in Phoenix, Arizona designed the Lola EV and Pearson applied his EV knowledge to the project. Two years ago, at the Alt Car Expo, Pearson was displaying his street racer (and you can see the story of getting in touch with Zap that he describes in our talk in this old comments thread). For the new Lola, Pearson can deliver the car to a builder as everything from a body with a set of plans to an almost finished car, starting at ,000. The big caveat: the Lola-EV’s price does not include the batteries. Since Electric Custom Cars is not a licensed automaker, they can’t deliver the complete vehicle to buyers. One cool part of the design is that the design calles for the batteries to sit where the doors would be, a placement that Pearson told us improved safety.

See more over at Electric Custom Cars and listen here (7 min):

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Contests, Government/Legal, Green, Chevrolet, GM

Now that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has an agreement with General Motors regarding how to measure the fuel mileage of the 2011 Chevy Volt, our attention turns to the EPA, which now has to decide what official mileage rating will appear on the new car’s window sticker and how to determine what that number will be. The first recommendation comes from the Automotive X-Prize, the foundation of which will award million from Progressive Insurance to the winner of its competition to design a production-viable car that people would want to drive that gets 100 MPGe or more.

What’s with that little ‘e’ after the familiar miles per gallon? Basically, the X-Prize crew wants to convert all units of energy to a figure that’s equivalent to the power from a gallon of gas. That way, a car’s powerplant - regardless of where it gets that energy from - earns a rating that can be easily compared with everything else. So, EPA, the ball’s in your court… still.

Psst - GM, maybe you should enter the Volt in the X-Prize competition. Just a thought.

[Source: Automotive X-Prize via AutoblogGreen]

Continue reading Automotive X-Prize recommends EPA adopt MGEe rating

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Filed under: Hybrids/Alternative, Green

AutoblogGreen continues its AltCar 2008 coverage with a look at the “poor man’s Tesla”, the Triac and an electric motorcycle. And what’s that that the LA Times guys said? Interesting stuff, that’s what. But we all stop our yammering and listen to Uncle Neil when he gives us a LincVolt upate.

• VIDEO: Neil Young delivers state of the LincVolt address
• AltCar 2008: Is the Lola EV the “poor man’s Tesla”?
• AltCar 2008: AMPLE taking orders for ,999 PHEV truck, two other plug-in hybrids
• AltCar 2008: Triac in the metal, deliveries to customers start in December
• AltCar 2008: LA Times panel hates/loves GM, and more
• AltCar 2008: Prometheus’ solar-powered electric motorcycle
• Chrysler: Half of all cars electric by 2020
• Blade Runner concept combines a bus with a train
• Volkswagen to downsize Golf VII
• Diesel fan? VW wants you (to promote its cars)
• Electrically-driven supercharger said to be ready for production
• Kia considering ultra-capacitors for next fuel cell vehicle
• Warren Buffett’s company buys stake in China’s BYD
• BMW reduces fuel consumption by 5% on 3-series with dual clutch trans
• Honda intentionally limiting sales of its Civic GX?
• Mazda AZ-Wagon micro-mini takes off in Japan
• Corsa Motorsports ready to go for 1st ALMS Green Challenge
• Carbon Motors hopes to put the Police in diesels

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Toyota test drivers smugly avoid London’s congestion fees as they test a fleet of plug-in Prius hybrids.

The current credit crisis—with or without a 0 billion bailout—has already spread from Wall Street to commercial banks, and from the financial sector to other parts of the economy, including to the auto industry. Here’s how the credit crisis is impacting key players in the hybrid vehicle market.

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Back in early 2006, when Toyota took the wraps of its new bigger, badder, and more powerful Tundra pickup, the company was clearly taking aim at Detroit’s last stronghold: the full-size pickup truck. At that time, company executives hinted at a hybrid version, but Toyota was going for Detroit’s juggler vein—so a gas-electric drivetrain on the 5.7-liter V8 he-man Tundra made little sense.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Santa Monica Alt Car Expo, Green Daily

The headline above is what we call a “bait & switch,” and it recreates the feeling I got when I approached the AMPLE Motion booth at the AltCar Expo. AMPLE, a new company incorporated on Earth Day this year, is trying an unusual strategy to get the word out about its plug-in hybrid vehicles that are scheduled to arrive in 2010: super deep pre-order discounts. While the company’s 2010 R300 plug-in truck will normally cost ,000, the first thirty people to pre-order will be on the hook for only ,999. A similar deal was available to visitors at the Santa Monica AltCar Expo for the E600 PHEV sedan. Original MSRP is ,000, but the pre-order price is ,999. While the banners at the AMPLE booth say the special offers are limited to the first 30 pre-oders, sheets that AMPLE had available at the show made it seem like only people at the show could take advantage of the deal. So, if you’re interested, contact AMPLE for more information.

But what are these vehicles with the unexciting names? We spoke with AMPLE’s Ted Flittner about the the company’s line-up, discount and referral system (yes, if you get your friends to buy an AMPLE car, you get a referral fee) and more. You can listen to Flittner here (7 min):

Here are the preliminary details on the three plug-in hybrid vehicles AMPLE is offering:

• For all three: 100 miles per gallon equivalent, or better. 600+ mile range with full charge and tank. Use EDI’s mechanically continuously variable transmission. Lithium-ion battery pack. ABS brakes and SRS airbags standard. Recharging from a standard household outlet.

• E600: “Epipany” class. Four-door sedan. 60-mile all-electric range (AER). 38 mpg highway. ,000.
• E300: Mid-size sedan. 40-mile AER. 45 mpg highway. No price sheet available.
• R300: “Robust” class. Compact pick-up truck (similar to a Chevy Colorado or Ford Ranger). 1,420 pounds payload. 3,150 pounds towing capability. ,000.

All of these models will be brand-new vehicles to the customer, but will be made from existing vehicle designs that AMPLE will be licensing from other automakers. More details will be coming in April or May 2009.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, AutoblogGreen Exclusive, Santa Monica Alt Car Expo

We heard about the Triac back in April and got more details in May. When we saw the prototype sitting on the floor of the Santa Monica Alt Car Expo floor over the weekend, we knew we needed to stop in and say hello. Ehab Youssef was there to give a rundown of the Triac, an all-electric tadpole-style three-wheeler that can go 80 mph and has a 100-mile range. The Triac uses a 20 kW AC motor and a 160 amp hour lithium battery pack and features full regen braking. The intellectual property - lithium batteries, battery management system, etc. - is engineered in the U.S. and final assembly is in San Jose, but some of the other components come from overseas.

One of the things that Youssef is quick to point out, though, is the Triac’s safety features (this is a “motorcycle” in the eyes of the feds, after all, and so escapes a lot of expensive testing). “Safety is one of the primary concerns of any vehicle, and so we went well beyond the Federal motor vehicle safety standards for motorcycles,” he said, “and put in all of the safety features that are possible.” Some of those features are disc brakes, structural steel cage, side impact bracing.

So far, Youssef said, “several vehicles” have been reserved and Youssef’s company, Green Vehicles, will start delivering the Triac to customers in December (a little later than expected). Youssef explained that the base price of ,000 is the lowest you can find today for a highway-speed electric vehicle, and many customers are choosing to go with some of the many upgrades.

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