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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- Roelof

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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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- Roelof

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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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- Roelof

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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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- Roelof

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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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- Roelof

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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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- Roelof

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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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- Roelof

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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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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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