Electric Vehicle - Tokyo has Tesla Inside!

Last monday Tesla opened up the dealership from where they will be selling their popular electric vehicle to Asia. From now on people in Asia can also experience what it is to drive the Tesla Roadster and in the future the S Model.

Which cities are next to have Tesla Inside?

Electric Vehicle - The sky is the limit?

The people at Wired have taken a ride in a very special electric vehicle: an airplane! Now it is actually "just" an ultralight, but electric flight has to start somewhere, right?

Flying will never be the same once this gets broadly used; no more noise, vibration or fumes from the engine! Just the sound of the air passing the plane and the soft whine of the electric motor. It sounds like how most people describe a ride in an electric car, though a tad more spectacular ofcourse since it is up in the air. No room for range anxiety here mind!

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/10/wired-flys-e-spyder-electric-plane/

Electric Vehicle - DDW

DDW in this case is for the Dutch Design Week and they have some very nice electric vehicles on their show this week still. If you are able to go and visit the show in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, drop by and take a look at some very cool concept cars from Citroen, Renault and Peugeot.

http://www.atcentre.nl/events/105-atc-design-on-wheels.html

Solar Roads - Power on the go

The concept of the Solar Road has won the Ecomagination Challenge, securing them a nice check to help with their startup. For those that have missed out on what a Solar Road is; it is a road with solar panels integrated into it. A clever idea that allows the road to act as a generator and provide power. 

Currently they are working on the glass plate that is the top layer, a challenging task as the properties that are needed:

- Transparancy to allow the sun light to pass through

- Strength to be able to support vehicles

- Traction to allow cars to drive safely on glass

Getting this power to your electric vehicle could be done for example by means of induction, another technology that is getting a lot of attention.

Electric Vehicle - Microsoft Plug and Play

Microsoft announced plans to have their software (embedded) in your electric vehicle. It does seem to make sense, having the media streams controlled by the experience from Microsoft. Music, maps, traffic information and entertainment is what they have been doing for a long time now. They also have experience with plug and play, which is very much applicable to an an EV ofcourse. Just be sure to avoid car-crashes doubly so, having to reset your car on the highway after a "B.S.O.D."is the last thing you will want to do.

All in all it makes perfectly sense for Microsoft ofcourse to enter this market, especially since a lot of car manufacturers have displayed a lot of connecticity options for iPhones and other smart phones, like BMW for example with it's Mini scooter.

Reference:

Microsoft News

Electric Vehicle - Killer Apps

With the electric vehicle making more appearances on the roads near you, there are also a lot of options on the vehicles which use the smart phone for a variety of things. The Volt and the Leaf have special apps, the Smart ForTwo will have one and also BMW has a lot of funcionality integrated on your smart phone. 

Varying from monitoring the battery status of your car to pre-heating it in the winter, it all becomes possible with these electronic devices. As this article puts it;

Smart phones? They’re the killer app for any electric car.

And it is just a matter of plug and play really, or (unless you are using inductive charging) unplug and drive. 

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1050519_ready-for-your-electric-car-dont-forget-the-smart-phone?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AllCarsElectric+(All+Cars+Electric)

Tesla - Soon inside a car near you?

Yesterday I posted on Tesla working together with Toyota on a new RAV4 EV and with Mercedes with the new A-Class E-Cell. There are however a lot more places where Tesla is looking to co-create and help others out with their technology. Perhaps "Tesla Inside" is not such a bad way to put it; has Tesla learned this lesson from the other Silicon Valley giant - Intel?

The FCCC Delivery Van is another example of Tesla-Power. With more vans like that to follow, urban deliveries are bound to get a lot more environmentally friendly, less polluting and quieter. And there was also news of the SmartForTwo which features the popular technology, though there are talks going on with Evonic (a Daimler JV)

Who is next in line to get powered by Tesla?

Drive Train - Tesla Inside?

Last week brought news on the drive train of Tesla being integrated into the Mercedes Benz E-Cell (the converted A-Class). This week there is news of Toyota also signing a deal with the Tesla to help them out with a new version of the RAV4, the famous electric vehicle of Toyota. Who will be the next car manufacturer to call in Tesla for help and get a "Tesla Inside" sticker?

 

For more information on the deal with Toyota, visit the link below to an article on Green Car Congress:

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/10/toyota-to-pay-tesla-about-60m-to-develop-electric-powertrain-for-rav4.html

 

 

 

 

Hybrid Vehicle - Volvo's busses

Volvo is increasing its importance in the market of the hybrid vehicle. Besides their plans to roll out a range of electric vehicles (for example the C30), they are also gaining momentum in the hybrid bus market. The Volvo 7700 model was already quite popular from the start in Europe (150 orders from start), but will also be used in Mexico in order to battle the pollution.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/10/11/volvo-extends-hybrid-bus-trials-to-mexico-brazil/

Electric Vehicle - Are you ready for one?

Here's a nice article I came across on how to tackle range anxiety with an electric vehicle. All it takes is your normal car, so there is no need to buy an electric vehicle. Just get a pen and paper (or iPhone, or whatever you would like to take notes with) and give this strategy a go.

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/10/08/good-idea-dept-treat-your-gas-guzzler-like-an-electric-car-to-s/

Electric Vehicle - Mercedes

Mercedes has started to manufacture their electric vehicle, the E-Cell. It is basicly a converted A-Class car where the batteries are conveniently stored under the floor boards, lowering the centre of gravity and most likely increasing driving performance. They have also started to take orders for their F-Cell vehicle, a converted B-Class which runs on a fuel cell. Finally their investments in fuel cell research are starting to pay off.

 

I'm looking forward to hear more of these developments, also from the other car manufacturers ofcourse!

 

E-Cell:

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-31349_7-20018367-282.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

 

F-Cell:

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/10/07/mercedes-benz-now-taking-orders-for-b-class-fuel-cell-vehicle/

 

 

Electric Vehicle - The Stig

Nice video that came to my attention in the media, Ben Collins (aka the ex-Stig) driving the new Nissan Leaf. Funny to see the man from Top Gear talk so enthusiasticly on an electric vehicle.

A totally video in his Stig days with another electric vehicle; the Tesla: