Electric Vehicle - Nissan Leaf vs. Mitsubishi i-MiEV endurance race

The people of The Mew Motion here in the Netherlands have done a little endurance test with a Nissan Leaf and a Mitsubishi iMiev. The aim was not to get the biggest distance as possible with these <a href="http:///www.myhev.com">electric vehicles</a>, but to see what the range would be under normal conditions. The test was performed at the Dutch racing track at Zandvoort (so perhaps it was not really normal performance, but racing performance instead?).

Check out the video below, they have made it available in English as well and see how both cars perform around the track:

Electric Vehicle - Glimpse BMW’s Slick, Sexy Electric Future

"I love it when a plan comes together!", seems very much applicable to the electric vehicle program from BMW. Dubbed under the i-brand (does Apple know of this by the way?), the first two releases will be the all electric i3 city vehicle and the hybrid i8. Both would qualify still as the 'Ultimate driving machine' associated with the other BMW models. 

The price tag seems a bit steep, though it is from a premium brand and contains lots of the more expensive materials to construct cars with, being carbon fiber. On the other hand, I always thought the i3 and the i8 would not be for sale, but for lease/rent only? ("Screwed, glued & rented"?).

As a little bonus I've included an interview with Richard Kim, the designer for BMW's i-brand.

If you have details concerning the financial side of these cars I'd love to hear; leave a comment or contact me through Twitter / Linked In.

Twitter: @my_hev

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Glimpse BMW’s Slick, Sexy Electric Future
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/11/bmw-i-drive-electric-vehicles/

“This was a dream project in 2008,” vehicle exterior designer Richard Kim told us. “We had the opportunity to reinvent and redefine the car.”

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Electric Rolls-Royce Phantom 102EX – Drive Reviews

Rolls Royce has put their electric vehicle prototype out on the road for testing. It is the most luxurious, heaviest battery hauling vehicle out there at the moment, weighing just over 3000 kg! 

Earlier on Rolls also announced their partnership with HaloIPT, to enable wireless charging of their luxury vehicle. Recently HaloIPT was acquired by QualComm, but I hope the relation with Rolls still stands. 

A nice test vehicle to see where the Rolls are going to, where Rolls says to skip hybrids and go straight for electric, a wise decision in my opinion.

Electric Rolls-Royce Phantom 102EX – Drive Reviews
http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/11/12/electric-rolls-royce-phantom-102ex-drive-reviews/

The 6.75-liter V-12 was replaced by a massive 71-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery housed within the aluminum spaceframe. Rolls-Royce is using large-form NCM pouch cells, or lithium-nickel-cobalt-manganese-oxide to be exact. Due to its experimental nature, the 96 cells are separated into 5 modules (38-, 36-, 10-, 8-, and 4-cell units) and arranged in such a way that the overall battery takes on the shape of an engine and transmission.

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Electric Vehicle - 4 German EVs Head-to-Head

Nothing as exciting as a little competition, especially between electric vehicles. This nice post linked below summarizes and compares four German EVs to see what they have in common and what the differences are.

Which of these four would you pick? I think I'd go for the BMW i3 here, I'm a big fan of the work BMW is doing with their i3 and i8. 

German Electric Car Battle: Audi A2 v BMW i3 v Benz B-Class E-Cell v VW Golf Blue eMotion
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1066009_german-electric-car-battle-audi-a2-v-bmw-i3-v-benz-b-class-e-cell-v-vw-golf-blue-emotion

One very clear message: German carmakers are taking electric cars seriously. Finally.

Both Audi and BMW unveiled electric-car concepts that are thinly disguised versions of models that will go into production in 2013 and 2014. Mercedes-Benz showed a range-extended electric version of its new B-Class compact hatchback, and Volkswagen again showed its Golf Blue eMotion prototype electric car.

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Electric Vehicle - Nissan handing out 400 Quick Chargers in Europe

Quick Charging is seen as one of the viable solutions to allow longer trips with an electric vehicle in a reasonable time. To promote their Leafs, Nissan is providing a quick charge solution and giving 400 of them in Europe to strategic partners. A great example which will probably lead to more quick chargers being installed, enabling cross European trips in your EV.

I'm a little surprised to see it will be an AC/DC Quick Charger, though it is understandably to facilitate for Renaults vehicles from their alliance point of view. The only other reason I can think of is to be ready for whichever technology will become the standard in the future. Also looking at the current discussions on the SAE standards, the 'Tesla-plug' and the technologies applied in the rest of the world (where CHAdeMO is dominating in my opinion), it might be smart for Nissan to be able to bet on more than one option.

Nissan accelerating rollout of EV quick charge network in Europe by giving away 400 stations
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/11/nissanqc-20111108.html

The QC stations are also ‘AC-ready’ to support the arrival of EVs from Alliance partner Renault designed to 43kW AC quick charge standards. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is promoting infrastructure deployment based on AC-DC Mix Quick Charger strategy.

The move follows an agreement between Nissan and five of Europe’s leading utility and EV infrastructure supply companies to speed up the provision of the latest quick chargers developed by Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., which are less expensive—up to half the previous price—and smaller than before. The target is to have a network of quick charge stations across Europe with several thousand units in place by the end of 2012 and tens of thousands by 2015.

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Electric Vehicle - The 800-1600km EV Battery is in the Lab

For all the money being poured into the electric vehicle industry, the most is going to develop better batteries. With a current range averaging around 160 km on a full charge, the latest developments in the lab show a hint of the Lithium-Air technology enabling a 800-1600 km range on a full charge. While the technology is still in full development and not ready to be applied to a commercially available vehicle, it will make the question of range anxiety obsolete.

Though I would not recommend driving the 800 km in one go, having such a battery available does raise the question if you would want to charge it along your trips. With such a huge capacity you could use a current state fast charger to regain roughly 20% of your capacity during one of your regular breaks on such a long trip.

The Lithium Air UltraBattery Makes Progress
http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/11/lithium-air-battery-makes-progress.html

Metal air batteries are at this date, the mountain top goal of energy density. At a low of 5 times the energy of an equivalent standard lithium battery, a point needs made. Many will surmise that the battery at market would be 1/5th the size. That would suggest the same number of cycles in a time period. But if costs are down for an air battery such that the capacity is 5 times then the cycles would be 1/5th as often – making the lifetime 5 times longer as well. The choices aren’t going to get easier, but they are getting simpler.

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Electric Vehicle - 700 BMW Active E for lease

The second stage of the BMW electric vehicle program is on its way; the first stage was the Mini E, now is the BMW 1 Series converted to the Active E. A good looking car with a nice set of specs, and some promising statistics, also be sure to check out the 'swooshing' video below.

The only pity I think is it will only be available in the USA to my knowledge, if you happen to know of any EU pilots being done, I'd love to hear about it. Feel free to contact me on Twitter, Linked In or via the comments, your help is much appreciated.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/B1vof6y5MAY

The queue starts for 700 BMW Active E leases [video]
http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/10/queue-starts-for-700-bmw-active-e.html

The first such trial was for the electric Mini Cooper, the Mini E, which leased for $850 per month. Those Minis provided key development information and most have since been returned to BMW.

The Active E lease will be available for a limited number of customers in the metropolitan areas surrounding Boston, Hartford, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, and Sacramento.

(via Instapaper)

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Tesla Model S - For Sold Out?

The Model S Tesla was revealed and everybody is positive about this electric wonder on wheels (or a "unicorn" as Tesla's Elon Musk has also referred to it). This electric vehicle boasts many impressive specs; it can seat 7, has an impressive speed and acceleration and great handling. The super-sized iPad in the front allaws for a myriad of functions for entertainment and vehcle control purposes.

The only thing that is not to be liked about it? It is already sold out! In another interview Elon Musk has mentioned that the production of next year (about 6500) have all been sold already in advance. 

Hard not to be impressed with the Tesla Model S
http://www.hybridcarblog.com/hard-not-to-be-impressed-with-the-tesla-model-s/

I mean what kind of station wagon offers a coefficient of drag of just .22? That’s just unbelievably brilliant, especially for an EV that is going to offer twice the EV range — 160 miles – of today’s plug-ins, as its base model. The high end model will offer a whopping 320 miles. That’s just ridiculous.

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Tesla's Musk Says Model S Sold Out

Always good to see Elon talk so enthusiasticly about my passion; electric vehicles. Go check this out and try the (free) Bloomberg TV+ for iPad app while you're at it.

Sent from Bloomberg TV+ for iPad

Watch this http://mobile.bloomberg.com/share/video/00MHF4MjqOBzgLUZfJ4m9F91kjdGzwMQ

Tesla's Musk Says Model S Sold Out
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, says the electric car maker will turn a profit in 2013

Download the FREE Bloomberg TV+ iPad app from http://itunes.apple.com/app/bloomberg-tv/id460459302&mt=8

Article: 50 Companies Team to Create Open Source EV

An open source electric vehicle is not something I read about everyday. This one was constructed with a total of 50 different industry and science partners, a great feat in itself to come up with such a vehicle with so many participants in just 12 months. 

Congratulations to all who are involved on this job well done, hope to see this go to larger scale production and hit the streets.

50 Companies Team to Create Open Source EV
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/10/meet-the-one-modular-ev-created-by-fifty-companies/

The StreetScooter is a $7,000 EV with a 74 mph top speed and an 80-mile range. It relies on leased batteries and uses a heat pump for heating and air conditioning, and shipping company DHL has already ordered 3,500 of them — but the most interesting thing about the vehicle is how it came to be.

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Electric Vehicle - Nissan develops 10-minute electric car charger

Charging an electric vehicle can take a long time if you have to wait for it, though most studies suggest that most of the consumers will charge their vehicles while at home or work and charge their car in the 90% of the time they don't use it.

Fast charging is another option, where untill now you could get 0-80% charge in under 30 minutes, Nissan has developped a technology that will take just 10 minutes. It might be a while before we see this to become common technology in the EV industry, but we're bound to see this, or a competing technology, surface and smoothen our longer EV rides.

Nissan develops 10-minute electric car charger
http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/10/nissan-develops-10-minute-electric-car.html

The breakthrough reportedly came by changing the electrode inside a capacitor from carbon to tungsten oxide and vanadium oxide to improve power, reports Asean Automotive News.

Batteries charged using the updated system were complete in ten minutes, with no significant effect on storage capacity or voltage, the reports said.

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Electric Vehicle - Audi Introduce Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging @ Frankfurt

Another brand is exploring wireless power transfer to charge up their electric vehicle. After Rolls Royce's partnering with Halo IPT, also Audi understands the potential of this technology.

With special <a href="http://www. inductrophy.com">races</a> being organized (by for example Hotroad ) and also taxi and bus applications being promoted by numerous parties, we might have our future highways a lot sooner than many dare dream.

Audi Introduce Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging @ Frankfurt
http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/09/audi-introduce-wireless-charging.html

The charging process begins automatically when the EV drives onto the plate. The alternating magnetic field of the infrastructure side induces an alternating current across the air gap in the secondary coil, which is integrated into the vehicle. This current is rectified and fed into the vehicle’s electrical system, where it charges the battery or powers consumers such as the heater. The alternating field is only generated if the vehicle is standing over the plate and thus poses no danger to people or animals.

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Electric Vehicle - Battery technology: Highly charged

A nice promising breakthrough in the electric vehicle batteries, where the rate at which a battery can be recharged is greatly improved. From 0-90% in 2 minutes seems within reach at an increased cost of 20-30% of the battery.

The technology increases the area of the battery that is used in the (electro)chemical reactions, thus allowing a larger amount of electrons and ions to travel. Currently it is only applied on the cathode. Dr. Braun is currently looking into applying it to the anode of the battery as well, so expect another improvement there.

Great stuff!

A Nissan Leaf battery, charged to 90% in 2 minutes? It might be just around the corner...

Battery technology: Highly charged | The Economist
http://www.economist.com/node/18437910

The battery-maker’s dilemma is that the recharging rate depends on the area of contact between electrolyte and electrode. A thin, sandwich-like arrangement, in which cathode, electrolyte and anode are close together, can thus be discharged and recharged rapidly. However, this speed comes at a price. The amount of energy a battery can store depends on the volume of its electrodes, so a thin battery does not last long. What is needed is a way to increase contact area without sacrificing volume. And that is what Dr Braun has found. Moreover, his solution looks suitable for mass production.

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Electric Vehicle - Automated Highway Driving

While this technology is not limited to an electric vehicle, there are some added benefits if it would be applied on EVs. ( detailed <a href="http://www.myhev.com/electric-vehicle/electric-vehicles-the-gadgets-on-your-next-car">here</a> )

Some nice progress from BMW as well in this area, where in highway conditions the autonomous car can overtake slower vehicles and give way to vehicles looking to merge in on the highway. A nice road ahead with developments still, keep an eye out for these guys.

BMW: Automated Highway Driving
http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/08/30/bmw-automated-highway-driving/

“This is an entirely new situation and experience for the driver – it is a strange feeling handing over complete control of the car to an autonomous system. But after a few minutes of experiencing the smooth, sovereign and safe driving style, drivers and passengers begin to relax somewhat and  trust the independent system,” says Nico Kämpchen, Project Manager for Highly Automated Driving at BMW Group Research and Technology.“ Nevertheless, the driver is still responsible for the situation at all times and must constantly keep an eye on traffic and the surroundings.”

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Electric Vehicle - Rice University develops Solid State Supercaps

A nice breakthrough in super capacitors brings this technology another step closer to making it into our next electric vehicle. Supercaps are great at supplying a lot of power in short bursts, but lack the ability to supply power for longer durations. Research aims to either get batteries with higher possible (dis)charge rated, but also on supercaps with a higher energy density so they can hold more charge for a longer period. The future battery, or energy storage may be a hybrid in itself, combining battery and supercap properties alike.

Rice University team develops new solid-state supercapacitors with high energy and power densities
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/08/rice-20110823.html

“All solid-state solutions to energy storage will be intimately integrated into many future devices, including flexible displays, bio-implants, many types of sensors and all electronic applications that benefit from fast charge and discharge rates.” —Dr. Robert Hauge

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Electric Vehicle - How an Electric Motorcycle Made Record Time

News from the world of the two-wheeled electric vehicle, there's a new record set on the track and it just blew the competition away. What a bit of tuning in the software can lead to becomes clear in this story, but also people becoming more and more aware of the technology.

Q&A: How an Electric Motorcycle Made Record Time
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/08/record-lap-time-proves-electric-motorcycles-are-for-real/

There’s nothing coming up right now and I’m bummed because I wanna ride the bike because it’s such a fun bike to ride. I like using analogies to compare things, but I can’t because there’s just nothing really like it out there. It’s not the novelty or the newness of it, it’s just how easy it is to ride and the way the power comes on. There’s no shifting with your feet or hands and you have a lot of time just to worry about riding the bike. You’re not worrying about the gearing and all the other things that go with gas bikes.

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Electric Vehicle - 32.1 million electrified vehicles in 2025

The numbers of the electric vehicle on the roads are slowly increasing. Currently there are about 1600+ Tesla Roadsters on the roads, globally. In the Netherlands there are 109 Nissan Leafs driving around. Today I came across this report predicting 32 million electrified vehicles, global. That includes hybrids as well. 

Obviously such numbers are not the goal in itself, but do provide insight in how positive the providers of these predictions are of EV (and hybrid) success.

Worldwide sales of electrified vehicles to hit 32.1 million in 2025
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/08/05/worldwide-sales-of-electrified-vehicles-to-hit-32-1-million-in-2/

Fuji Keizai breaks down its 32.1-million unit figure like this:
- Standard hybrid vehicles: 13.86 million
- Plug-in hybrids: 11.48 million
- Pure electric vehicles: 5.75 million
- Fuel cell vehicles: 1 million

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Electric Vehicles - Renault concerned about silent electric F1 cars in the pit lane

The F1 is adopting a lot of typical electric vehicle technologies, or is it the other way around? Under discussion at the moment is to have F1 cars drive fully electric in the pit lane, but Renault sees a small problem: the lack of sound.

in similar discussions, not related to F1, but to normal electric vehicles, the general solution is to add sound to the car when it is in "EV-mode"; easy enough, also for an F1 car.

Renault concerned about silent electric F1 cars in the pit lane
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/07/26/renault-concerned-about-silent-electric-f1-cars-in-the-pit-lane/

the pit lane is the only spot on the track where people and cars meet – often in very close proximity – with mechanics out in the open and team strategists running between their team’s garage to the pit wall

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Electric Vehicle - Discoverers of graphene bring graphene-based electronics a step closer

One technical area where we can still greatly improve the electric vehicle is in the battery department. One promising technology sofar is called graphene, a material build up of a sheet of carbon. What make graphene so special then? It is only one atom thick! For an impression refer to the image attached to this post.

Graphene is said to have great mechanical strength, but also in conductivity. This last property makes interesting for electronics, but alsofor batteries. In a battery it can help increase the rate of charging (or discharging, but that has not really been a big issue yet). Keep an eye out for more news on this material.

Discoverers of graphene bring graphene-based electronics a step closer
http://www.gizmag.com/graphene-based-electronics-a-step-closer/19329/

“Although the exciting physics which we have found in this particular experiment may have an immediate implementation in practical electronic devices, the further understanding of the electronic properties of this material will bring us a step closer to the development of graphene electronics,” said Professor Novoselov.

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Electric Vehicle - GM and ABB provide Second Life for Volt battery packs

The batteries used in an electric vehicle can get worn during the use over many years, or extensive driving. Experts still debate about when a battery is to be called 'not good enough for an EV' and the value of such used batteries.

One way to improve the economics of this is to use the used EV batteries as a powet buffer in the energy grid, for which GM and ABB are now running a demonstration project. In the future, your old car battery might help you out during power outages, or just shave peak loads in the grid and save you money. The Second Life for batteries is upon us!

GM and ABB demonstrate prototype of Volt battery pack grid re-use application
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/07/gmabb-20110721.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29

Earlier this year, General Motors signed a definitive agreement with ABB Group to identify joint research and development projects that would reuse Chevrolet Volt battery systems, which will have up to 70% of life remaining after their automotive use is exhausted. (Earlier post.) Using Volt battery cells, the ABB and GM team is building a prototype system for 25-kilowatt/50-kWh applications, about the same power consumption of five US homes or small retail and industrial facilities.

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Electric Vehicle - Tesla scores $100 million Toyota RAV4 EV-related contract

The upcoming RAV4 EV from Toyota, fearures a big chunk of technology and services from the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla. It involves a nice chunk of $100m, which will greatly help in getting Tesla's Model S on the road.

It is deals like these that lead me to wonder if Tesla is either going for their own, unique line of vehicles, do they want their Tesla tech and knowhow inside all the other car manufacturers cars, or is their ambition big enough for both? For now, it seems the new RAV4 EV has Tesla Inside.

Tesla scores $100 million Toyota RAV4 EV-related contract
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/07/20/tesla-scores-100-million-toyota-rav4-ev-related-contract/

Buried within its latest U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Tesla Motors revealed that its deal with Toyota is to be pumped up, with the Japanese automaker agreeing to fork over an additional $100 million to Tesla. Initially, word of the agreement brought trading of Tesla stock (NASDAQ ticker symbol: TSLA) to an immediate halt. However, the freeze was short-lived, with TSLA shares currently trading in the ballpark of $29.

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Electric Vehicle - 2012 Nissan Leaf upgraded for America

An update from one of the most well known electric vehicles in the world; the Nissan Leaf. Due to popular demand they will make the quick charge and winterisation options a standard in the 2012 model.

Also some nice statistics already from the current US users of the Leaf; a lot of them are using it as their primary car and driving a lot more than initially anticipated. Once you are hooked to electric driving, you are really hooked ;-)

2012 Nissan Leaf upgraded for America
http://electric-vehicles-cars-bikes.blogspot.com/2011/07/2012-nissan-leaf-upgraded-for-america.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FpEcq+%28Electric+Vehicles%29

More than 4,000 Nissan LEAFs have been delivered to U.S. customers, and Nissan, as it begins the next phase of the launch, continues to learn from them. While 82 percent have never previously owned a Nissan, a full 75 percent considered no other vehicle than the Nissan LEAF in their purchase decision. On a whole, these early adopters report that they are using the Nissan LEAF as their primary car, and driving it far more than was originally anticipated. These consumers, most of whom are highly educated and have high income levels, are technologically savvy, environmentally conscious, and consider themselves advocates for electric-car technology.

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Electric Vehicle - Life With Tesla - Tesla Owner Mike Koenigs explores the green world of energy independence and living off the grid

There is no electric vehicle like the Tesla Roadster, that is for sure! Today I want to point out to a great informative website on this vehicle and living off grid.

Mike Koenigs has made a neat documentary on his adventurea of gettingthe Tesla, getting the solar panels on his house and never have to worry about gas or the rising gas prices again!

Go check out his website and watch the documentary, it is really nice!

Life With Tesla & Tesla Owner Mike Koenigs explores the green world of energy independence and living off the grid
http://lifewithtesla.com/

Life With Tesla â€" Tesla Owner Mike Koenigs explores the green world of energy independence and living off the grid

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Electric Vehicle - Toyota RAV4 EV won't be sold to the general public

A long anticipated electric vehicle, the Toyota RAV4 EV, will probably not be available for consumers to buy, neither will it have an option to quick charge. 

A true pity, since many current RAV4 EV users are highly enthusiastic about the car and have made a lot of folks wanting their own (new) version of it. Understandable as it is, getting the car to business and car sharing fleets will generate more exposure of the vehicle and for car sharing, a lot more people get to drive it as well.

The supposed lack of quick charging is a bit mysterious, they prefer to wait till the US has decided on a standard, while the ChaDeMo standard has been widely adopted in Europe and Japan. Hopefully the Americans pick their standard quick, or they will have to drink a few more cups of tea compared toEV drivers elsewhere...

Report: Toyota RAV4 EV won't be sold to the general public
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/07/17/toyota-rav4-ev-wont-be-sold-to-the-general-public/

And, despite being a electric vehicle that could benefit from quick charging, Yoza says the RAV4 EV will not come equipped with a CHAdeMO charging port, stating that Toyota will not offer a quick-charge setup on any of its electrified vehicles until the SAE finalizes a standard. Let’s hope that Yoza’s admission is slightly inaccurate and that Toyota will eventually sell the RAV4 EV to the public. Otherwise, the only electric CUV on the market in 2012 will be one that folks like us can’t even buy.

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Electric Vehicle - Orphiro Cruiser Is A Battery-Powered Beauty

A two wheeled electric vehicle is not such a common sight yet. One that is made to enjoy a ride and cruising instead of speed and thrills is even more rare. The Dutch Orphiro was revealed and made it to the page of Wired; calling it a "Battery powered beauty", which I can only agree upon. Hope to see more of these on the road soon!

Orphiro Cruiser Is A Battery-Powered Beauty
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/07/orphiro-cruiser-is-a-battery-powered-beauty/

Steegh has been working with a dozen other people over the past year and a half to bring the Orphiro to market. He hopes companies will order it for promotional use. He says he’s received some interest after a sneak preview of the machine, but he’s waiting until the official debut at the end of September to take any orders.

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Hybrid Vehicle - Volvo: What’s the best kind of range extender?

A hybrid vehicle is a hybrid vehicle, is a hybrid vehicle, right? Volvo will try and test three different types of hybrids, both paralel and series. They all have their own advantages, but so far no other manufacturer has put them to such a test yet; they ususlly pick one type and go with it.

The goal of the test remains unclear, so does the aim of this study; hard to determine succes then, but in the mean time, Good Luck to Volvo for this attempt.

Volvo: What’s the best kind of range extender?
http://www.hybridcarblog.com/volvo-whats-the-best-kind-of-range-extender/

No word on whether Volvo is planning to bring all three plug-ins to market, or whether the focus is efficiency and/or cost-effectiveness.

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Electric Vehicle - Coulomb Technologies introduces ChargePoint Android app for EV owners

Driving an electric vehicle and driving around to find that charging location you needed is in use for a few more hours? Coulomb stationscan be tracked and monitored from now on, so no more needless driving around or waiting for an undetermined time to get a charge.

Seems like the way to go for other manufacturers as well, but what more should the App tell you? Suggestions are welcome.

Coulomb Technologies introduces ChargePoint Android app for EV owners; 20K-plus charging sessions/month on ChargePoint Network
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/07/coulomb-20110708.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29

We are seeing more than 20 thousand vehicle charging sessions a month on the ChargePoint Network and, on average, drivers remain plugged in for an average of eight hours a session. The ChargePoint app provides essential information and control for EV drivers needing to charge. Since EV charging stations are typically busy for hours, EV drivers need an app that tells them which stations are currently available to them. I have driven EVs for more than a decade and know firsthand what it means to arrive at stations that are already use or broken. That doesn’t happen on ChargePoint.

—Richard Lowenthal, founder and CTO at Coulomb

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Article: Rolls-Royce President Talks Electrics, High-Tech

Some nice insight into the electric vehicle plans of Rolls Royce. Owners of Rolls Royce vehicles are not so much interested in new electronics every 2 year and this recent interest in fuel economy or electric vehicles that the rest of the world is keen on has not landed yet.

Rolls Royce is currently not sure if hybrids ir electric vehicles are the way to go and is having lots of discussions with current owners. It is a good thing that BMW is also quite active in the hybrid and electric vehicle arena, so when the decision has been made at Rolls they can adopt from BMW technology.

Rolls-Royce President Talks Electrics, High-Tech
http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2011/07/rolls-royce-president-talks-electrics-keeping-up-with-technology.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+cars%2Fkickingtires+%28Kicking+Tires%29

Then again, with 11 bull hides and 10 square meters of wood inside a Phantom’s cabin, it’s a long shot whether any Rolls-Royce customer gives a whit about outdated electronics. After all, most Patek Philippe timepieces don’t include a stopwatch.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Range Anxiety Drive Leaf 779 Miles in 24 Hours

Some time ago the people at Epyon drove their electric vehicle, a Nissan Leaf for 24 hours and used their famous fast charging solution to see how far they could go. Having driven 779 miles within a day and considering the warnings from Nissan on fast charging, hoe bad is their battery now?

The people at Epyon told me they test their fast charging stations frequently and fast charging is probably the only wsy they charge thrir cars. Sofar they have not seen any significant impact on the battery that suggests damage, the capacity has only dropped a few percent over the course of many months of testing.

Three Dutchmen Shirk Range Anxiety, Drive Leaf 779 Miles in 24 Hours - Car and Driver Blog
http://blog.caranddriver.com/three-dutchmen-shirk-range-anxiety-drive-leaf-779-miles-in-24-hours/

Michiel Langezaal, Wouter Robers, and hirsute Lars Bech work for Epyon Power, a Netherlands-based concern developing fast-charging stations for electric vehicles. They are also, in grand Dutch tradition, reserved on the outside with a well of boundless nuttiness within. As such, they decided to see how far they could drive a Nissan Leaf in 24 hours by utilizing Holland’s network of fast-charging stations along the highways.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Hello my dear car

When people start talking to objects they get frowned upon, unless the object starts to talk back as well. More and more manufacturers are implementing speech technology, also in the electric vehicle. 

According to Frost & Sullivan we will see a rapid increase of voice control in our cars the next few years, will we also have dialogues like Michael Knight and K.I.T.T.? Telling a car to come over or a car telling you it wants a quick charge might be just around the corner.

Frost & Sullivan: 16 million vehicles in Europe will have basic voice interface, 7 million will have advanced voice interface by 2017
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/07/voicehmi-20110704.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29

According to an analyst comment from Frost & Sullivan on the European market for voice control interface, steering wheel controls and multifunctional knobs, about 16 million vehicles will have basic voice interface and 7 million vehicles are likely to have an advanced voice interface in Europe by 2017.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Building an electric car Top Gear style

From bashing an electric vehicle to building one themselves; Top Gear can do it all apparently. An amusing set of episodes can be found on Youtube where the guys build an EV using a TVR chassis and some familiar Top Gear spirit.

Check out the videos here:

Building an electric car – Top Gear – BBC | Electric Vehicle ...
http://www.electricvehicle-conversion.com/building-an-electric-car-top-gear-bbc

Jeremy, Richard and James attempt to save the planet by building their own electric car out of a TVR chassis and milk float batteries before descending on the streets of Oxford in their new creation.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Fully Charged YASA motors episode 23

A really nice show on anything related to the electric vehicle industry, I must say I am a big fan myself, with always interesting items to discuss.

A nice video for the weekend, where you meet up YASA, a company that manufactures electric motors and features a little discussion on the question how finite rare earth elements are. Good stuff.

Have a nice weekend!
- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Buses that charge at each stop

When an <a href="http://www.myhev.com">electric vehicle</a> stops, it has a nice opportunity to charge the battery. Buses make frequent stops and with that have a lot of potential charging moments. There are many technologies to recharge buses at each stop, for example using induction (Conductix Wampfler), or overhead charging (Opbrid) like Proterra in the article below.

Besides the advantages of not having to run out of power to complete the trip, the other big advantage is thar the bus can do with a smaller battery. This leads to a lower cost for the vehicle and a lower vehicle weight. Soon on more buses in our streets?

Electric Buses that Charge at Each Stop
http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/24/electric-buses-that-charge-at-each-stop/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

Proterra is capitalizing on the fact that the lithium titanate batteries powering their buses can be charged in 10 minutes, and therefore can be charged at each bus stop that has a charger setup. The distance between bus stops is normally short, making it possible to use very short range batteries which enable them to travel 30-40 miles per charge and keep recharging them frequently.

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- <a href="http://nl.linkedin.com/in/rreineman">Roelof</a>

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Electric Vehicle - Buses that Charge at Each Stop

When an <a href="http://www.myhev.com">electric vehicle</a> stops, it has a nice opportunity to charge the battery. Buses make frequent stops and with that have a lot of potential charging moments. There are many technologies to recharge buses at each stop, for example using induction (Conductix Wampfler), or overhead charging (Opbrid) like Proterra in the article below.

Besides the advantages of not having to run out of power to complete the trip, the other big advantage is thar the bus can do with a smaller battery. This leads to a lower cost for the vehicle and a lower vehicle weight. Soon on more buses in our streets?

Electric Buses that Charge at Each Stop
http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/24/electric-buses-that-charge-at-each-stop/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

Proterra is capitalizing on the fact that the lithium titanate batteries powering their buses can be charged in 10 minutes, and therefore can be charged at each bus stop that has a charger setup. The distance between bus stops is normally short, making it possible to use very short range batteries which enable them to travel 30-40 miles per charge and keep recharging them frequently.

(via Instapaper)

- <a href="http://nl.linkedin.com/in/rreineman">Roelof</a>

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Electric Vehicle - Prestige Taxi opening up a Charging Station

With the electric vehicle comes electric charging. With many vehicles, you need more chargers. For Prestige Taxi, who has a nice fleet of electric taxis running in for example Utrecht, that resulted in a charging station. They feature not one, but four quick chargers and if that is not enough, also six normal chargers.

The quick chargers are from Epyon, a global player and experts in the field of quick charging electric vehicle batteries.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Currently they operate in Utrecht and Amsterdam, but obviously they want electric taxis everywhere. Next time you hail a cab, look for Prestige and get an electric ride.

- Roelof

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Hybrid Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz pulls fuel cell vehicle launch forward to 2014

Rarely you see product launch dates getting pulled forward in time. For the hybrid vehicle from Mercedes Benz, a Hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicle, the plans were to start in 2015. 

Recently a World Tour was completed with the F-Cell, a converted B-Class, to celebrate the 125th aniversary of Mercedes-Benz and to demonstrate the readiness of this technology. So, the chicken, or the egg? The Fuel Cell car is on its way and looking for some infrastructure. 

Mercedes-Benz pulls fuel cell vehicle launch forward to 2014
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/22/mercedes-benz-pulls-forward-fuel-cell-vehicle-launch-to-2014/

The product is ready for the market technically. We have proven that by sending three vehicles with a fuel cell around the globe without any relevant problems. The issue is infrastructure. We made this trip to prove technology is ready and we need partners to take care of infrastructure. We intended to go for volume production in 2015, but because of the experience of the world tour we have pulled forward.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Natural Gas is Both Friend and Foe to the Grid

In the efforts to make the electric vehicle truly sustainable, the electricity has to be also sustainable. Because of this and numerous other reasons, coal and nuclear are losing the public interest as a means of generating electricity to power our daily needs. Besides wind and solar power, gas is seen asa good friend to sustainable energy; it is cleaner than coal and electricity generation from gas can be adjusted rapidly to meet the changes in wind/solar production.

It is important however that acquiring the gas is also done in a sustainable way, else all efforts will have been for nothing. If you have seen the documentary 'Gasland', you are aware of the current problems involved with 'fracking' and its associated environmental impact. Polluting your country like that and contaminating your water supply is by no means a good approach to be sustainable. That the EPA in the US claims this is just a "PR problem", while they refuse to drink water from the wells they claim to be good does not add up.

Natural Gas is Both Friend and Foe to the Grid
http://www.pikeresearch.com/blog/articles/natural-gas-is-both-friend-and-foe-to-the-grid

Natural gas proponents have called for the rapid expansion in tapping the huge reserves contained within the Marcellus shale deposit using hydraulic fracturing. The concerns over the environmental impact of fracking are growing by the day including at the EPA, but a roundtable panel was dismissive saying on several occasions that fracking occurs well below the water table and that it was “only a PR problem.”

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Ghosn still committed to $5.6 billion EV investment

When it comes to vision and dedication, nothing beats Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Nissan-Renault. There is no moment in public where he  explains his enthusiasm for the electric vehicle and he has the entire company transformed to do just one thing: be the first and the biggest on the market with electric vehicles. The Nissan Leaf is the first fully electric vehicle that has seen the light under his supervision and more are destined to follow.

The news that he committed a rather large sum of money to the EVs is good news, but hardly surprising. 

Renault-Nissan CEO still committed to $5.6 billion electric vehicle investment
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/20/renault-nissan-ceo-5-6-billion-electric-vehicles/

There is no other car company committing the massive investment in electric cars like us. None. A lot of people are saying they’ll come out with an electric car. But they’re saying 10,000 or 20,000 or 30,000. At this time, no one can match us.

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Electric Vehicle - Track and Trace a Nissan

A lot of technical features in the electric vehicle allow one to monitor their car. Varying from "Where did I park?", to "How full is my battery?". Apparently this is also an opportunity for others to do the same on your vehicle, if it is not properly secured! 

This was the case for the first batch of Nissan Leafs out there, where Nissan Leafs could be tracked by others. Nissan has responded adequately in the matter and sealed the entrance to thrir system, only allowing the right people to this information. Do keep an eye out when getting yourself an electric vehicle, as you might not just be farming looks from impressed people in the street, but also from the internet. 

Before Nissan's patch, did the Leaf leak driver data?
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/17/before-nissans-patch-did-the-leaf-leak-driver-data/

That’s what Casey Halverson, a “self-described free-lance security blogger” told the New York Times, saying that the way that Carwings handles RSS feeds leaves the car’s information open to RSS providers the car is subscribed to, and that Nissan “pretty much left it wide open.”

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - EV Apps and Fleet monitoring

In my quest to get people more familiar with the electric vehicle, I'm currently in the process of developping some promotional EV Apps geared towards promoting EVs from manufacturers.

My other project is geared towards fleet monitoring and driving more sustainable and helps pinpoint the areas to improve your fleet at and get a lower carbon footprint for your mobility needs.

If you are a car manufacturer, or a fleet owner and would like to hear more from either product, feel free to contact me through Linked IN or Twitter (@my_hev). Thanks in advance for your interest and helping create more sustainable mobility.

- Roelof

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Volvo CEO says both plug-ins and fossil-fuel-powered cars can reduce emissions

Nice article on Volvo, not 'choosing sides' for the electric vehicle, or the hybrid vehicle. The main goal is to reduce CO2 and not focus on a technology (yet). 

While I think the electric vehicle has a bigger potential yet to come and unleashed, hybrids will offer a fair share of people what they are looking for in the next few years probably.

Volvo CEO says both plug-ins and fossil-fuel-powered cars can reduce emissions
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/14/volvo-ceo-says-both-plug-ins-and-fossil-fuel-powered-cars-can-re/

[The technology used] depends very much on the CO2 standards, that’s the guiding line, more or less… We should not forget that the traditional internal combustion engine can significantly be improved and the benefits out of this can be made with less investment and complexity. We are [in] a long transition period from fossil fuels towards alternative powertrains and we need to understand that we have to be careful to not invest into the wrong direction.

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Electric Vehicle - VW exec says current li-ion tech allows for "a halfway decent car"

Now that is an interesting thing to say about an electric vehicle, right? You could say the current technology as is only allows cars to be roughly half of what we are used to (referring to range and charging/fuelling mostly), or alternatively, VW has a nice trick up its sleeve to bring us a fully decent car. What are your thoughts on this?

VW exec says current li-ion tech allows for "a halfway decent car"
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/09/vw-exec-says-current-li-ion-tech-allows-for-a-halfway-decent-ca/

So what has changed? What has changed the business mainly is that lithium-ion batteries have come around and finally supported an energy density that allows you to build a halfway decent car.

(via Instapaper)

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Nissan Leaf Nismo RC Test: On-board Cam

Seeing this electric vehicle driver in action makes it seem just a matter of pressing "play" to go. Just wanted to share this video with you showing how the Nissan Leaf Nismo goes around the track.

The Nismo is very much like the standard Nissan Leaf, but tailored for racing: no eco-mode in this one.

- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Li-ion Flow Batteries Refill Quickly and Easily, Could Cut Cost of Li-ion Batteries in Half!

Another new type of battery; work in this field is very popular given the applicationin an electric vehicle. This type of battery is a flow type and promises to deliver a battery technology thatcan charge as quickly as fuelling up your car. There isa lot of work that still needs to be done, the final anode and cathode materials still have to be selected, but the lab results look good already.

Li-ion Flow Batteries Refill Quickly and Easily, Could Cut Cost of Li-ion Batteries in Half!
http://cleantechnica.com/2011/06/07/li-ion-flow-batteries-refill-quickly-and-easily-could-cut-cost-of-li-ion-batteries-in-half/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IM-cleantechnica+%28CleanTechnica%29

“A sample of ‘Cambridge crude’ — a black, gooey substance that can power a highly efficient new type of battery. A prototype of the semi-solid flow battery is seen behind the flask.”

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Electric Vehicle - Audi A2 e-tron lightweight champion

The focus for an electric vehicle has been on batteries and weight mainly. Audi's expected A2 E-Tron is setting a low example of almost as low as 800 kg! Very impressive work of the guys and gals at the Audi engineering department. Now let's wait for it to show up on a street near us, hopefully sooner than later.

Audi A2 e-tron coming to Frankfurt?
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/06/audi-a2-e-tron-coming-to-frankfurt/

Engineers at Audi have reportedly set an internal weight target of 800 kilograms (1,764 pounds) for the four-seat A2, but that’s awful light and seems like it would require the use of Audi’s costly Multimaterial Space Frame (MSF) technology.

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- Roelof

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Hybrid Vehicle - Mercedes-Benz F-Cell World Drive successfully completed

The round the world trip of Mercedes-Benz it's hybrid vehicle, the F-Cell, is completed. Marking their 125 year anniversery this went on to demonstrate the viability of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

One thing to draw my atyention; calling a hybrid fuel cell car an alternative to a "traditional EV". What is traditional about the current generation of EVs then? If you have any suggestions, feel free to share them with us, I'd be interested to learn.

All in all, congratulations for Mercedes-Benz on their anniversery and completing the trip, a nice achievement!

Mercedes-Benz F-Cell World Drive successfully completed
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/06/03/mercedes-benz-f-cell-world-drive-successfully-completed/

The German automaker hopes that the drive will prove that fuel-cell vehicles are a viable alternative to traditional EVs and internal combustion vehicles and that lawmakers and businesses will respond by ramping up the infrastructure necessary to easily operate a fuel-cell auto.

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- Roelof

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Vanadium - The Best Thing Since Lithium

There is a lot of time and effort poured into making better batteries, where some aim to improve the current lithium based batteries, others go for totally new materials. The aims are all the same and have been discussed on my blogfrequently; more charge at less weight, less cost and longer lifespan.

After the graphene, the silicium and the air type batteries, now also vanadium has entered the race and it looks promising. Without having the full details on the materials availability and cost, I have yet to understand the claim that it allows for cheaper batteries.

Vanadium: The Best Thing Since Lithium
http://www.energyandcapital.com/articles/the-best-thing-since-lithium/1531?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+eacfeed+%28Energy+and+Capital%29

A lithium battery only lasts 3-5 years before it has to be replaced. A vanadium battery can be charged and discharged over 35,000 times, giving it a lifespan of over 35 years.

Vanadium can also charge and discharge simultaneously, can release energy instantly, and is ideal for both transportation grid applications.

In other words, it’s the new holy grail of battery materials.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - USD 25000 for a 350-mile-per-charge electric car could be reality by 2017 DOE says

It sounds promising to me if an electric vehicle with such specs can have such a price tag. It is the promise of Chu from the US Department of Energy and he outlined the plans to invest in the US, on one hand to get more sustainable, on the other to create more jobs and boost the economic recovery.

Let's see how cheap such a car can really go, feel free to share your thoughts on the matter.

$25,000, 350-mile-per-charge electric car could be reality by 2017, DOE says | Greenspace | Los Angeles Times
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/05/la-ev-charging-stations.html

Batteries are the ”heart” of electric vehicles, he said, adding that the Department of Energy is funding research that will drop the cost of electric-vehicle batteries 50% in the next three or four years and double or triple their energy density within six years so “you can go from Los Angeles to Las Vegas on a single charge,” he said. “These are magical distances. To buy a car that will cost $20,000 to $25,000 without a subsidy where you can go 350 miles is our goal.”

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Purpose design vs. Conversion design

Sometimes you change a plan, other times you start off with a clean slate. In electric vehicle design these two approaches are used as well, you have most of the traditional car makers changing a current model, others are developping a totally new car.

An interesting article from my friends at Green & Energy on the topic is linked below, it is well worth a read on this design issue.

Purpose design vs. Conversion design
http://www.green-and-energy.com/blog/purpose-design-vs-conversion-design/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GandE+%28The+Green+%26+Energy+Consulting+Group%29

If you regard the Mini E in contrast to the SIM-LEI in terms of energy consumption you have about 18 kWh/100km for the Mini E and ca. 7,4 kWh/100km for the SIM LEI (both figures are rather optimistic). But this already shows what happend in a quite short time and I´m sure that there are still further potentials for reducing energy consumption of EV, which would also improve the economy of such cars.

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- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - GM Volt an unexpected succes

GM is going to increase the production capacity of their electric vehicle assembly line, due to 'unexpected succes'. How can you make a great car and not expect the public to like it? Anyway, I think it is good news nonetheless, people are clearly more and more interested in sustainable mobility and electric vehicles.

Perdonally I think the unexpectedness is more based on caution from the manufacterers side than anything else.

GM Amps Up Volt Production
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/05/gm-amps-up-volt-production/

The Chevrolet Volt is selling faster than expected, so General Motors plans to pump up production — a move that will require shutting down the production line for one month to make some improvements.

The General says it will revamp the line at the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant so it can increase Volt production to 16,000 units this year and 60,000 next year. That’s a significant bump over the original plan, which called for 15,000 cars this year and 45,000 next.

(via Instapaper)

- Roelof

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Electric Vehicle - Volvo in project for inductive charging for EVs

Since the introduction of the inductive charging system for an electric vehicle many companies are involved in projects with this technology. There are buses fitted with this systrm for a few years in Italy and one in my hometown Utrech as well. Rolls Royce sees it as the option to charge their luxury EV and now Volvo is also participating in a Belgium projectto put this system to a real test.

Other participants are amongst others Flanders, van Hool and Bombardier. The system consists of a 20kW charger, capable of recharging the average EV battery (24kWh) in a little over 1 hour.

Volvo Car participating in project to develop inductive charging for EVs; 20 kW system
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2011/05/volvo-20110517.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+greencarcongress%2FTrBK+%28Green+Car+Congress%29

Volvo will deliver a C30 Electric to Flanders’ Drive on 19 May to be modified for inductive charging. The charging system to be evaluated is dimensioned for 20 kW; charging a battery pack of the size fitted to the Volvo C30 Electric, 24 kWh, is expected to take about an hour and twenty minutes, if the battery is entirely discharged.

(via Instapaper)

- Roelof

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