Dude, Where’s My [Electric] Car!?!!
Another great find tonight, and I can’t believe this one snuck past me. Thanks to the guys at PowrTalk I think I just found my next car. And it’s already monogramed for me!
Ready to hit the American market in 2010, Miles Electric Vehicles 4-Door Sedan is the first practical, affordable, 4-door, high-way-speed rated, all-electric vehicle you can buy (if you can still get a car loan…) for around $35K USD.
According to the Miles EV website:
“In early 2004, concerned by growing environmental problems linked to micro-carbon emissions, Miles Rubin set out to make a difference – by developing a line of safe, affordable, all electric vehicles that produce zero emissions. He centered the company’s activities in Tianjin, China, where the battery industry had expert manufacturing experience. Since then, Miles Electric Vehicles has begun importing low speed vehicles and is working to develop a highway speed, all-electric, midsize sedan.”
“The MILES XS500 prototype sedan currently under development will top 80mph and travel over 120 miles on a single charge – for about the cost of a gallon of gas.”
“Miles Electric Vehicles is owned by Miles Automotive Group, Ltd, and headquartered at the historic Santa Monica Airport in Santa Monica, CA.”
Hopefully I can get in touch with my local rep for some additional information and to arrange a demonstration. I’ll keep you posted.
Energy Freedom Summit - First Impressions
Today and tomorrow I’m in Chicago attending the Energy Freedom Summit, organized by the Set America Free Coalition. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this summit, not knowing much about the organization until just two months ago.
My first impression after today’s panels; I’m impressed with the knowledge, experience, focus and pace of this organization - they have a laser-lock on what they intend to do, and are efficient in getting the message out as powerfully as possible.
The panels are impressive leaders in their fields, from geo-political security experts to plug-in hybrid magazine editors. I’m taking many notes.
The attendees are an ambitious and eclectic group of people from a variety of backgrounds who are interested in understanding and solving the current energy crisis. Authors, government officials past and present, entrepreneurs, concerned citizens fill the conference hall - about 150 in all.
I’ve met several authors, a frog farmer, a history professor, a few lawyers, and several “regular joes” who are attending in an effort to ”do something” about this problem.
I’m not yet sure where I fit in here, but I keep talking to people, and am learning quite a lot.
(Update 10/27/08 - I’m home from Chicago, with enough new information to fill this blog for weeks. I’m currently writing a few entries, and will begin posting them as they are completed.)
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Solar + Splitting H20 + Fuel Cell = unlimited 24/7 electrical power
Some exciting news out of MIT, as published in Science Magazine and reported around the world online in the last few days… years away from being a commercial product, but an exciting development for the future of solar energy.
Source: Guardian UK
Daniel Nocera, a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has developed a catalyst made from cobalt and phosphorus that can split water at room temperature, a technique he describes in the journal Science. “I’m using cheap, Earth-abundant materials that you can mass-manufacture. As long as you can charge the surface, you can create the catalyst and it doesn’t get any cheaper than that.”
…At night, the hydrogen and oxygen could be recombined in a fuel cell to produce an electrical current to power a home or recharge an electric car. “So I’ve made your house a gas station and a power station. It’s all enabled because we can use light plus water to make a chemical fuel, which is hydrogen and oxygen.”
With Daniel Nocera’s and Matthew Kanan’s new catalyst, homeowners could use their solar panels during the day to power their home, while also using the energy to split water into hydrogen and oxygen for storage. At night, the stored hydrogen and oxygen could be recombined using a fuel cell to generate power while the solar panels are inactive. Graphic / Patrick Gillooly, MIT
Source: Physorg.com
Requiring nothing but abundant, non-toxic natural materials, this discovery could unlock the most potent, carbon-free energy source of all: the sun. “This is the nirvana of what we’ve been talking about for years,” said MIT’s Daniel Nocera, the Henry Dreyfus Professor of Energy at MIT and senior author of a paper describing the work in the July 31 issue of Science. “Solar power has always been a limited, far-off solution. Now we can seriously think about solar power as unlimited and soon.”
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150 MPG (Equivalent): XH-150 and XH250 Hybrids
At the Detroit 2008 Car show… Details over at Autobloggreen…
AFS Trinity Power Corporation is displaying a new hybrid SUV (actually a converted Saturn Vue) that gets more than 150 mpge thanks to something AFS calls the Extreme Hybrid (XH). The SUV recently achieved “more than 150 miles per gallon of gasoline based on the EPA Combined Urban/Highway Driving Cycle with 6 days per week of 40 miles per day in all electric mode and one day at 100 miles with assistance of the gas engine.” The test reportedly returned mpge numbers of around 170, but AFS wants to use 150 so as not to leave people disappointed if they drive more aggressively or under different circumstances than the test was run in.
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Green-Boating: Electric Outboards by Torqeedo
A recent post to a mail-list I follow turned up a German-based company named Torqeedo that has created some really spectacular all-electric outboard motors for recreational boating.
…With the thrust force of a 6 HP combustion engine, the Torqeedo Cruise is the emission-free alternative for sailing and motor boats up to three-ton displacement. Equipped with the latest torque technology, torque characteristics designed especially for boat motors, and an optimised propeller, the Torqeedo Cruiser is not only the most efficient but also the most powerful 24-volt motor available on the market… (read it all)
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GM’s new electric car project - the Volt
GM had a successful electric car push a few years ago, but abandoned it after what appeared to be successful public trials, causing some to theorize that the car was “killed” for other-than-technical reasons. (See “Who Killed the Electric Car?” for more background.)
Today, GM announced that they are re-entering the electric car market with a novel electric design which uses the latest battery technology coupled with a small on-board recharging engine which is powered by gasoline.
This system of battery-drive with combustion engine re-charging is very similar to proven naval propulsion designs used most notibly in diesel-electric submarines from World War II thru present day. In similar systems, electric battery banks power electric motors while underwater with diesel engines recharging as needed while on the surface or at snorkle depth.
…The push to develop environmentally friendly cars is also an attempt by GM to distance itself from its close association with gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles, a reputation executives say has hampered its sales in some markets.
The Volt’s combustion engine is designed only as a supplement to keep its batteries charged, an innovation GM executives hope will help the automaker jump ahead of Toyota Motor Corp. (7203.T), which now dominates the hybrid market…
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Plug-In Hybrids = 100+ MPG
A Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) is essentially a regular hybrid with an extension cord. You can fill it up at the gas station, and you can plug it in to any 120-volt outlet. It’s like having a second fuel tank that you always use first — only you fill up at home, from a regular outlet, at an equivalent cost of under $1/gallon…
…PHEVs are meant to plug-in at night. In many areas of the country, overnight power is available at a lower cost. As PHEVs start to enter the marketplace, we’ll see increasing support from electric utilities, as they’ll offer reduced nighttime rates to incentivize off-peak charging. In some areas where wind and hydropower is wasted at night, the rate can be as low as 2-3 cents per kWh. That’s 20-25 cents a gallon…
…The nationwide electrical grid is only 3% petroleum-fueled, whereas transportation is almost completely powered by oil — 60% of which comes from foreign sources (and growing). Adoption of plug-in hybrids will transfer the overwhelming majority of our miles driven to nearly oil-free electricity. If all vehicles were plug-in hybrids we would cut our oil needs by 55%, nearly enough to eliminate foreign sources altogether.
The winning combination from an environmental and national-security perspective is the flexible-fuel PHEV — one that runs on biofuels, cellulosic ethanol, methanol, or alternative liquid fuel in place of gasoline. This will reduce the transportation sector’s use of oil to almost zero — and cut the United States’ annual oil needs by 2/3.
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The Tesla Roadster Update
If you are not familiar with the Tesla Roadster, it’s the electric car your mother warned you about. Currently number one on my Christmas Wish List, this US-engineered and English-built super car (based on a Lotus chassis and sub-systems) is sure to change your mind about what an electric car is all about.
The guys at Popular Mechanics have all the fun…
Today I found a short-but-sweet video report at Yahoo! that will put a smile on the face of any fans of the Tesla Roadster. (It’s nice to see it in motion)
And The Car Connection puts it in context.
Giving Up Gasoline
Here’s an interesting article out of Alaska. It’s no Tesla Roadster, but it is an all electric vehicle that allows Mike Willmon to commute to work for $20 per month (average monthly cost of electrical charge).
Giving up gasoline
Mike Willmon put an electric motor in his pickup to save on fuel billsBy RICHARD RICHTMYER
Anchorage Daily NewsPublished: September 18, 2006
Last Modified: September 18, 2006 at 07:45 AMAt first glance, Mike Willmon’s 1988 Mitsubishi MightyMax looks like any other pickup cruising Anchorage’s streets.
But instead of the rattling and rumbling sounds that typically go with old pickups, Willmon’s rig emits a gentle whir that gradually fades as he eases it to a stop at a traffic light. And there’s no sight or smell of exhaust fumes as he waits for it to turn green.
That’s because Willmon, an electrical engineer, overhauled the truck, replacing its gasoline engine with an electric motor that runs on batteries…
Hey, he sounds like somebody I know!
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Holy Electric Car, Batman! (Tesla Roadster)
Forget that frumpy Hybrid and go all-electric like a rock star. Tesla Motors is a California based company with a great idea, an aggressive business plan, and tons of style.
Redefining what and electric car looks like is one thing. Redefining the performance and endurance is another thing.
The Tesla Roadster sports an amazing figure, and amazing figures. It’s 100% electric, so you plug it into the wall at night to charge it. A full charge will take you 250 miles, for about 1 cent per mile (based on California electricity prices). Oh yeah, it goes 0 to 60 in around 4 seconds…
Tesla Motors is a forward thinking young car company. They are looking to change the way people think about all-electric cars. Next they will build a mid-priced family sedan, and after that they will be looking at the lower-priced variety of commuting vehicles. By starting at the top of the food chain (at $90K per Roadster) Tesla plans to use profits from higher-end early adopters, willing to pay a premium for one of the world’s quickest and greenest cars, to fund development into ways to reduce costs to make a more affordable second generation vehicle.
I’ll be keeping tabs on this technology, and will provide more details in the near future.
