EV Digest 4719
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) RE: Electricity stored in batteries. The biggest dissapointment of the
modern world.
by "Noel P. Luneau" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2) Re: Help with motor rating - Units, gentlemen
by "Philip Marino" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
3) EVLN(Lower electric motor costs will encourage EV usage)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
4) EVLN(Toyota lets drivers keep their pre-Prius electric cars on road)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
5) EVLN(PHEVs=grid-connected=full=strong=pluggable=gridable=plug-in hybrids)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) EVLN(Subaru will produce 10 EVs with Tokyo Electric Power Co.)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
7) EVLN(tzero is a reason to not give up on EVs)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
8) EVLN(Solomon sues Toyota over Prius transmission patent)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
9) EVLN(Audi Q7 debuts as Europe's 1st gas-electric hybrid)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
10) EVLN(Talking GEMs with GPS give Spanish tours)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
11) EVLN(Kaiser's $2k electrathon grant: Robots, Rockets & Girls, Oh My!)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
12) EVLN(85 Civic + batteries + Dispenza savvy = electric car)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--- Begin Message ---
Payback here in California is 7 to 11 years depending on consumption
based on *today's* dollars. However, the price of electricity will go
up as the price of Natural Gas goes up.
Payback will accelerate...
Noel
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Neon John
> Sent: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 3:36 PM
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: Electricity stored in batteries. The biggest
> dissapointment of the modern world.
>
> On Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:57:46 -0700, "Lawrence Rhodes"
> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> >Paid 12k. State paid other half. Not doing it only on cost but now
> >I'm really glad I did it. My bill is 10 dollars a month.
> Oh I do pay
> >100 on the loan but that includes two cars too. LR.......
>
> Hmm, 24k for a system with a payback measured in decades, if ever?
> Practical to you, maybe but probably not for most others.
>
> ---
> John De Armond
> See my website for my current email address
> http://www.johngsbbq.com Cleveland, Occupied TN
>
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Jim, and John -
This will all make more sense after the units are straightened out.
One Horsepower is actually 550 ft-lb / second ( not 550 ft-lb, or 550
ft/lb).
Torque is measure in ft-lbs. ( not ft/lbs).
Don't confuse torque ( ft-lb) with HP ( ft-lb/sec).
If you know the torque and RPM, you can calculate the horsepower this way :
Power ( in hp) = speed ( in RPM ) x torque ( in ft-lbs) / 5252
You can see where this comes from at
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question622.htm
When Jim gave the motor specs, he probably meant " 5 ft-lb torque" instead
of "5 lb load". Is that right, Jim?
If it was 5 ft-lb torque, , that would mean that at 2500 RPM and 5 ft-lb
torque, the motor was producing 2500 x 5 / 5252 HP, or about 2.4 HP.
The power into the motor was 36 V x 75 A = 2700 watts. That equals
2700/746 HP = 3.6 HP. ( 1 HP equals 746 watts)
That means that at that speed and torque the motor's efficiency is 2.4 HP /
3.6 HP = 67 %. That sounds low, but the motor is pretty lightly loaded,
so the efficiency would be low. ( With no exteral load, the efficiency
would be zero, since the motor is producing no power)
Phil
From: Jim Husted <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Help with motor rating Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 10:13:05 -0700
(PDT)
Your MKU motor is wound series in the field coils. For a faster motor at X
current you could replumb the coils to flow series parallel. 550 foot
pound = 1 HP don't add up here as John Wayland says he is pushing around
that amount at 348 volt with two motors. The Corvette he raced last race
was stated to have 410 HP and over 400 foot pounds. Use the free spin data
to see where you stand as at least you will know that all is working per
factory. The rest will be up to you (and group) to determine what that
motor will carry and the voltage needed for your speed / range goals.
Hope this helps
Jim
Hi Jim,
Thank-you for the info, so now I am confused (still), I haven't got a clue
to the 5 lb load. Is that 5 ft/lbs of torque and how do I get that
amplified to any usable power? As I read all the things it takes 550
ft/lbs for 1 HP. Also @24V and 20A that works out to 480 watts or
480/746=.64HP and @36V and 75A works out to 3.6HP.
The controller I have is rated 24-48V and I may be able to get to 36 or 48
if I use 12V batteries. I know there is not enough room to put 8 ea 6s in
there.
I have made a heroic assumption that this is a series field motor, is that
true? The Prime Mover had a GE EV-1 control and I am not fully clear on
what I ended up taking out of the unit. I have traced the wiring, but the
EV-1 is an unknown "black box" on my sketch with too many power wires for
my
simple logic. (A1,P,A2,T1,N possibly not in that order)
I'll try cross posting this onto the list as well in case it can help
anyone
else.
Thanks,
John
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Husted
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, September 13, 2005 7:35 PM
Subject: Re: Help with motor rating
Hey John
Thought I'd get you those test specs for the MKU. The L600 manual says that
motor should run at these specs.
24 volts @ 20 amps @ 4400 RPM's @ no load
36 volts @ 75 amps @ 2500 to 2760 RPM's @ 5 lbs load
These motors had an OEM volt rating of 24 to 48 volts
so if you were to run it at 12 volts @ no load you should be around 2500 to
3000 RPMs and still around 20 amps + -.
Hope this helps
Jim Husted
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi Jim,
I was able to get in a few hours this weekend on the motor and have gotten
it back together. I had to take the shaft down about .018" and the end bell
out to 55mm and also make the pocket .060" deeper. Sorry for the mixed
measurements, but I didn't keep the notes over the several work sessions. I
am pleased with the result as it spins by hand very easily with the brushes
lifted.
I hooked it up to my old Snap-on charger and the shaft actually turned
some.
I didn't check the voltage or speed as I didn't want to let it run too long
as the charger is in need of some work. I just replaced the selenium
rectifier in it (fried) with a selenium stack that I had laying around and
the voltage is some where down around 11 volts due to the multiple diode
drops.
As for the shaft I think if all else fails, I can try making a sprocket or
hub with 6 keyways in it. Just start with the minor diameter of the spline
and space the keyways around the circle.
I have good intentions like everyone else to create a diary of the
conversion to put it up on my website, we'll just have to see if time and
desire keep up. At least so far I have been taking pictures of anything I
think might be of interest to anyone else.
John Neiswanger
----- Original Message -----
From: Jim Husted
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 10:45 PM
Subject: Re: Help with motor rating
Hey John
Good to talk to you
MKU I know them well and will look up what prestolite says it should run.
It should power that rig pretty nicely. That looks like a pretty nice ride
and I would like to see pics as you go through developement to finished. If
you are unable to get that plate to work, I have some good salvage plates
that might work well as candidates. Second, if you can not find a shaft I
could install a more user friendly shaft into that armature for you to tap
into. What you have in mind sound good though,just thought I'd offer you
some options if all does not go as planned, as there are many way you can
skin that cat so to speak. I thought your motor had no numbers on it so I
thought pic. Although it took you effort, we got to meet and I got to see
yet another EV. Way cool good luck and I'll try to get to you what I can
find out to you. My general feel is that although it may not be the fastest
EV out there that motor should do well and you will be turning heads in no
time. Good luck. And thank you for your kind words.
Jim
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
Hi Jim,
Thank-you for the offer. Attached is a picture of the motor, the end bell
and just for fun the proposed donor vehicle. I do have a part number on the
motor of MKU-4005 which Prestolite reports as an "out of production model"
with no info available. It was removed from a Prime Mover stock picker as
the main drive motor and the front bearing is in the gearbox and was on the
outside of a helical gear that slipped onto the motor shaft. I was able to
get a bearing at the local bearing house 55mm X 30mm which is just 3mm
larger OD than the Oil seal that was in the end bell. I am intending to
turn the end bell out to take the bearing which should get the front of the
armature supported. The shaft is a 6 spline by 1" which I haven't tried to
locate a sprocket/hub/connector for yet.
In response to your post to the list this evening, I for one, appreciate
all
of your input and would have thought you were one of the charter members if
not told otherwise.
Thank-you for any information you are able to provide on this motor or
project.
respectfully,
John
John Neiswanger
Industrial Electronics
Gridley, CA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Husted"
To:
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2005 9:46 PM
Subject: Re: Help with motor rating
> If you can get a pic forwarded to me I would probably recognizes it. If
I
do I can look some spec's up from the prestolite L600 service book.
>
> Jim Husted
> Hi_Torque Electric
>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I have a Prestolite 24 volt motor and am unable to get any information
from
> them as it is so old. Is there some safe and hopefully simple way to
find
> the RPM and power capabilities of this motor. I want to use it in a
> motorcycle conversion at either 24 or 36 volts. It is 7&1/4" diameter
and
> 11" long if that gives any clues.
>
> respectfully,
> John Neiswanger
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Click here to donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
>
>
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EVLN(Lower electric motor costs will encourage EV usage)
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http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13902669
Tatas woo electric vehicle motor cos
Monday, 25 July , 2005, 08:35
New Delhi: Tata Motors is in talks with various electric vehicle
motor manufacturing companies to have them set shop in India so
that motors for electric vehicles could be available at lower
costs. This in turn would drive down the manufacturing costs.
Today in Sify Finance
CEO Forum
A high-level bilateral Indo-US CEO forum was launched recently in
Washington DC.
BPL, Essar ring together
The Essar group acquired a controlling stake in BPL for a
consideration of over Rs4,400cr on July 20. View images.
Moreover, the company plans to have its concept prototypes ready
for hybrid cars and hybrid buses over the next six months. The
company is working on a fuel cell bus, the prototype of which
would be ready over the next one-and-a-half to two years.
"We are working on the prototypes for hybrid cars (Indica and
Indigo) and buses. They are expected to be ready over the next
six months," Tata Motors General Manager (Electricals &
Electronics), V.G. Gujrathi, has said. He was addressing a
workshop on `Technology Priorities for Electric Vehicles'
organised by the Technology Information, Forecasting and
Assessment Council (TIFAC).
Pointing out that there is a need to bring down the cost of
electric motors to encourage usage of electric vehicles, he said,
"Importing the motors of electric vehicles escalates the cost to
a major extent making it impossible to be an economically
feasible option for Indian consumers. We are in talks with some
companies and asking them to set shop in India." Later, while
speaking to Business Line, Gujrathi declined to divulge the names
of companies with which Tata Motors is in talks.
Apart from bringing down the motor prices, improving battery
technology and making easy finance schemes available for electric
cars are other issues to be taken care of, pointed out experts.
"We need to work towards reducing the cost of motors of electric
vehicles. One of the ways could possibly be combining resources
(of various companies) within the country," said Chetan Kumar
Maini, Deputy Chairman & Chief Technology Officer, Reva Electric
Car Company.
He also stressed on the need to have battery-charging centres in
place.
Senior official from Scooters India, H.S. Sikka, also called for
easy financing schemes for purchasing electric vehicles, for
batteries and for putting charging infrastructure in place if the
country has to encourage electric vehicles. Over 700 electric
vehicles (three wheelers) developed by Scooters India are plying
in various cities including Agra, Delhi, Lucknow and Pune, he
added.
TIFAC Executive Director Prof Anand Patwardhan said that TIFAC
would bring out a report that would list out the kind of
intervention required to promote electric vehicles.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/12532949.htm
Posted on Thu, Sep. 01, 2005
Toyota lets drivers keep their pre-Prius electric cars on road
LOS ANGELES (AP) - With no public fanfare, Toyota has agreed to
let customers resume driving about 1,000 discontinued electric
vehicles that were a precursor to the popular Prius gas-electric
hybrid.
The automaker's decision is a rare victory for a small but
devoted band of electric car drivers, who say automakers never
gave the cars a chance to succeed in the mass market.
Environmentalists and national defense experts say
alternative-fuel and electric cars reduce the country's reliance
on gasoline that pollutes the air and sends American money to
foreign oil suppliers.
Electric-car proponents who urged Toyota to keep the vehicles on
the road planned to announce the news in a conference call with
reporters today. Among them was former CIA director James
Woolsey.
''It's an unprecedented sort of negotiation with an automaker,''
said Chelsea Sexton, a member of Plug in America, which argued
for keeping the Toyotas on the road. ''Toyota has been very
progressive in responding to consumer demand. They didn't think
these vehicles would ever be as popular as they turned out to be.
For us there was no question.''
Several automakers produced electric vehicles in response to 1990
air quality regulations requiring that 10 percent of all new cars
sold in California by 2003 produce no tailpipe emissions.
But after persuading judges to whittle away the regulations,
automakers that had leased the vehicles to consumers began
reclaiming and destroying them, saying it wasn't feasible to
continue servicing vehicles that never caught on with consumers.
The need to plug in the vehicles every 100 miles or so warded off
many buyers, but dedicated drivers pleaded to keep their electric
cars, saying automakers had made no real effort to promote the
technology.
They held demonstrations outside Toyota dealerships, pleading
with the company not to reclaim them when the leases expired.
Toyota produced about 1,500 of the small SUVs between 1997 to
2003, leasing most of them to companies and government agencies
for use as fleet vehicles.
About 300 private individuals who leased RAV4s were already
allowed to continue leasing or to buy them, but Toyota has now
agreed to extend leases on the fleet vehicles, some of which have
fallen into private hands, company spokeswoman Cindy Knight
said.
About 200 other RAV4s were dismantled, recycled and crushed
because they were no longer roadworthy, she said.
Toyota also pledged to donate any cars returned to the company to
state and national parks, among others.
Though the new policy spares the cars, the batteries will get
less and less range as they age, meaning drivers will no longer
be able to go up to 120 miles without recharging.
''I've got a co-worker who's driving one and he's down to between
60 and 80 miles between charges,'' Knight said. ''The battery
slowly starts deteriorating.''
Plug-in cars and alternative fuel cars, like those that run on
natural gas, tend to be most popular as fleet vehicles for
companies or agencies that can refuel or charge several of them
simultaneously at a central location.
Toyota applied regenerative braking -- a technology in the RAV4
that allows a vehicle to create its own electricity -- in
designing its popular Prius, which doesn't need plugging in
because it supplements gasoline with electricity generated during
braking and coasting.
Interest in the Prius and two Honda models -- the Insight and
Civic hybrids -- has climbed with soaring gas prices and a new
California rule allowing the three models in car pool lanes.
Automakers have spent millions of dollars trying to communicate
to consumers that hybrids, unlike electric cars, are not
plug-ins. But confusing the message are a handful of tinkerers
across the state who have modified hybrid cars so they can be
plugged in, allowing them to travel much longer distances between
fill-ups.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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hybrids)
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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050901.wxwhvaughan01/BNStory/specialGlobeAuto/
It's time to get all those cars plugged in By MICHAEL VAUGHAN
Thursday, September 1, 2005 Updated at 10:46 AM EDT
The California Cars Initiative, or CalCars, is a group in Palo
Alto, Calif., that aims to build awareness of plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles.
At various times, these vehicles have been called grid-connected
hybrids, full or strong hybrids, electric, pluggable, gridable
but, in the past five years, the most prevalent name has been
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). With its partners,
CalCars has been creating actual vehicles, among them the plug-in
Prius.
Felix Kramer has been working with environmentalists, engineers,
car experts and citizens since 2001 as founder of the non-profit
California Cars Initiative. In the late 1970s, he ran a
non-profit energy conservation company, became a computer
consultant in 1983 and in 1985 an early desktop publisher.
A graduate of Cornell University, he lives in Silicon Valley.
Vaughan: Felix, you've monkeyed with your Toyota Prius in such a
way to turn it into a plug-in hybrid. What exactly have you done
to it and why?
Kramer: We took a standard 2004 Prius and added an additional
battery pack in the tool area so it doesn't interfere with normal
cargo space.
These batteries can be charged from a normal 120-volt garage
outlet. And we added a new battery control system developed by
EnergyCS, an advanced technology firm.
We did this to transform a hybrid that runs entirely on gasoline
into a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) that gets part of its power from a
second energy source: cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity.
CalCars's goal is to get car companies to build PHEVs. They
combine the best features of electric cars and hybrids. Recharge
nightly and you'll rarely need gas -- for instance, if your
batteries have a 25-mile range and your daily round-trip commute
is 20 miles, you'll drive gasoline-free.
If you forget to plug in or you go on a long trip, you have the
gasoline engine's extended range and you're back to driving a
pretty clean, efficient hybrid.
Vaughan: Well, let's look at the numbers. What does the
electricity cost, compared with going the same distance on
gasoline? When would the savings pay for the conversion?
Kramer: It's like having a second small fuel tank -- only you
fill this one with electricity at an equivalent cost of less than
$1 (U.S.) a gallon.
How much under depends on your car and your electric rate. We
estimate car makers could sell mass-produced small PHEVs for
$3,000 more than small hybrids. Many early-adopter buyers will
pay extra for the "environmental feature," just as car buyers pay
for more powerful engines or leather seats, without even thinking
about payback.
At the same time, gasoline prices continue to rise. And
projections based on real-world experience from utility
electric-car fleets show that PHEVs can have a lower lifetime
cost of ownership than any other type of vehicle.
Vaughan: But aren't you just shifting the pollution from
tailpipes to the electrical generators, which in Ontario and most
of the United States are still heavily dependent on burning
coal?
Kramer: California's, and much of Canada's, electric power is
much cleaner than the U.S. power grid.
But even on the half-coal U.S. grid, when you count everything
well-to-wheel, an electric vehicle produces at least 45 per cent
less in greenhouse gases than a gasoline car.
And Canada, as well as more and more U.S. states, is requiring
that electric power get cleaner and more renewable.
The liquid fuel can evolve from gasoline to biofuels including
biodiesel and cellulose ethanol. Using electric power as the
everyday fuel makes each transition easier.
That's how a plug-in hybrid that is 100 mpg (gasoline) plus
electricity becomes, for instance, a 500 mpg (gasoline) plus
electricity plus ethanol vehicle.
Vaughan: Let's talk about the batteries. Toyota says the
nickel-metal hydride battery systems in the Prius aren't powerful
enough to make a plug-in hybrid practical. But using more
powerful batteries, like the lithium-ion systems, creates some
serious heat. Do you think about "thermal runaway," which could
mean your batteries might catch fire or blow up while you're
driving?
Kramer: Nickel-metal hydride batteries, proven, for many years in
hybrids, to be safe, could go into plug-in hybrids today -- they
would be designed more like the ones Toyota put in its 2002 RAV4
EV compact all-electric SUV.
The performance, durability and safety of lithium-ion batteries
are improving rapidly.
The Electric Power Research Institute says lithium-ion batteries
are ready now. DaimlerChrysler is using them in its prototype
PHEV commercial vans.
And the Valence Technology li-ion batteries in the EDrive Systems
conversions include a phosphate additive that makes it nearly
impossible for them to burn or explode.
Vaughan: Felix, you're sold on these, but what about the car
makers? Are you getting any signals from hybrid builders like
Toyota or Ford that they might do a plug-in hybrid some time
soon?
Kramer: We've been tracking Toyota's changing public statements,
which have evolved from dismissive skepticism to open-mindedness
to a last-ditch defence that the batteries aren't ready.
So far we see no signs that they intend to build PHEVs, but we
remain hopeful.
And we think that Ford could take the technology lead and catch
the imagination of car buyers and help save their company by
building much better, cleaner, advanced technology cars.
CalCars is working with organizations concerned with national
security to make the point that these cars can reduce our
dependence on imported oil. We're spreading the word that they're
a rapid way to reduce greenhouse gases by a significant amount.
We're working with Plug-In Austin.com and other groups to create
a national fleet buy order to bring to car companies. And we're
working to create other incentives to car makers and car buyers
to bring these cars into the marketplace.
Michael Vaughan is co-host with Jeremy Cato of Car/Business,
which appears Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. on Report on Business
Television and Saturdays at 2 p.m. on CTV.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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http://www.rednova.com/news/display/?id=228050&source=r_science
Posted on: Friday, 2 September 2005, 02:40 CDT
Fuji Heavy to develop electric car with TEPCO
TOKYO (Reuters) - Subaru car maker Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.
said on Friday it would co-develop and produce 10 electric cars
with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to be tested by the utility
as a first step toward spreading the use of the ecological
vehicles.
Over the next year, the partners aim to develop cheaper and more
efficient technology to meet several conditions including a
minimum driving range of 80 km (50 miles) and a recharging time
of 15 minutes for 80 percent of the battery's capacity.
Japan's biggest electricity provider would purchase Fuji Heavy's
electric cars for internal use if the price were limited to
around 3 million yen, a Fuji Heavy spokesman said, and test them
for practicality, feasibility and cost.
Fuji Heavy currently has a prototype mini electric car that runs
on a lithium ion battery co-developed with NEC Corp..
The auto maker said last month it was also aiming to market a
hybrid gasoline-electric car in 2007 using the high-performance
battery, which lasts 15 years, or about twice as long as those
used in today's hybrid cars.
Most auto makers have given up on pure electric vehicles, instead
focusing on hydrogen-fuelled fuel-cell vehicles and
gasoline-electric hybrids as an ecological alternative to
internal combustion-engine cars because they found that electric
cars required too many hours of recharging for relatively short
distances.
Japan's Mitsubishi Motors Corp. is the only other major auto
maker with plans to commercialize electric vehicles. It now has a
prototype that can run 150 km (93 miles) on about 10 hours of
recharging, also using a lithium ion battery, and is aiming to
expand the driving range to 250 km (155 miles) by 2010.
Mitsubishi Motors has said it was also talking with TEPCO and
other utilities to exchange information on electric car-related
technology as part of its aim to market a practical and
affordable electric minicar.
If the issues of charging time, driving range and cost are
resolved, electric vehicles could be a more attractive
alternative to fuel-cell vehicles, which require massive
investment for hydrogen fuelling stations, among other hurdles.
During the experiment, TEPCO would also gauge the possibility of
switching some or all of the 3,000 or so in-house small cars that
it uses for traveling short distances beyond March 2006.
It estimated that if all 3,000 were switched to electric
vehicles, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 2,800
tonnes a year and fuel costs cut by 190 million yen annually.
Fuji Heavy said it would aim to offer electric vehicles to other
companies through technology gained from the experiment, with the
eventual aim of commercializing them for personal use.
Shares in Fuji Heavy, held one-fifth by General Motors Corp.,
Source: REUTERS
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EVLN(tzero is a reason to not give up on EVs)
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http://www.forbes.com/lifestyle/collecting/2003/10/21/cx_dl_1021vow.html
Vehicle of the Week The World's Fastest Electric Car Dan Lienert
AC Propulsion's tzero roadster is a reason to not give up on the
electric vehicle. The tzero does 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds,
according to the company, and it does it on only 200 horsepower
because of its light weight and torque.
The San Dimas, Calif.-based company says the tzero (pronounced
"tee-zero," not "chair-o") has compared favorably in acceleration
tests to Corvettes, Porsche 911s--and even a Ferrari F355, which
it claims to have "out-accelerated...by eight car lengths" in
one-eighth-mile drag races. If for nothing else, the tzero's
$220,000 sticker price puts it in exotic-car territory.
The low weight helps make the tzero so quick, but its torque--the
turning force that pulls it off the line--is just as important,
if not more. Conventional internal combustion engines need to rev
to a certain rate before reaching their peak torque, but the
tzero's torque peaks instantly, with 183 ft-lbs. available from 0
to 5,000 rpm.
Of course, AC Propulsion, a specialist in electric vehicles, must
realize that demand for electric cars has toppled. Ford Motor
(nyse: F - news - people ) recently announced plans to
discontinue the electric version of its Ranger pickup, and
hybrids, diesels and hydrogen cars now seem like more viable
alternatives to electric cars, whose customers have complained
about their golf-cart powerplant noise and limited range.
Indeed, the tzero can only go 280 to 300 miles at 60 mph without
recharging--even if it can recharge on any 120- or 240-V power
socket. And if you accelerate it like an Italian exotic, or even
take it on a hilly route, that range can decrease by up to about
20%.
The range has actually increased over time. AC Propulsion had
made the tzero with lead-acid batteries since 1997, but this year
released a revamped version with the kind of lithium-ion
batteries used in laptop computers. The range, which increased to
280 to 300 miles from 100 miles per charge, now compares well
with fuel cell cars.
But even if AC Propulsion claims the vehicle has efficiency
equivalent to 70 mpg (and zero emissions), the tzero is, to a
certain extent, an exercise in automotive fantasy. Its Spartan
interior looks like a science project, in which most of the
controls apart from the CD player are gadgets to monitor the
battery and tiny 110-lb. motor. Drivers get an analog current
meter, voltmeter, altimeter, and battery-voltage display with LED
lights that measures temperature and charging limits.
Remember, though, this is more of an experiment than a
traditionally appointed car. The tzero does not come with
air-conditioning. And to lower its top and windows, you detach
them and store them in the trunk. Talk about alternative energy
expenditures.
Forbes Fact
Alan Cocconi, founder and president of AC Propulsion, designed
and built the controller for General Motors' original electric
vehicle concept, the Impact, which the company introduced at the
Los Angeles auto show in 1990. The Impact evolved into the EV-1,
GM's now-famous first electric vehicle that went into
production.
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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EVLN(Solomon sues Toyota over Prius transmission patent)
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informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
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http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/09/13/bloomberg/sxhybrid.php
Toyota looks to the future and sees hybrids
By Alan Katz and Kae Inoue Bloomberg News
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2005
FRANKFURT Toyota Motor, the world's second-largest automaker
behind General Motors, has said that all of its vehicles may
eventually be run by hybrid gasoline-electric motors, as record
fuel prices curb demand for conventional automobiles.
Toyota, the world's first and largest maker of hybrid cars, said
it is aiming to increase hybrid production by 60 percent in 2006
and will cut costs and prices to make them more affordable.
"In the future, the cars you see from Toyota will be 100 percent
hybrid," the executive vice president, Kazuo Okamoto, said Monday
in Frankfurt, declining to give a time for achieving the target.
"We believe that in 10 years the world will be filled with
hybrids."
Toyota has sold 425,000 hybrid cars since 1997 and is trying to
profit from its edge over GM and Ford Motor in the technology.
The company's president, Katsuaki Watanabe, said he aims to halve
the premium in price of hybrids over conventional vehicles "at
the earliest possible stage."
Hybrid vehicles combine a gasoline engine with battery packs that
are recharged through braking. Electricity powers the vehicle at
low speeds, enabling the Prius hybrid to achieve double the
mileage of a conventional automobile. The cost of those
components makes hybrids $3,000 to $5,000 more expensive than
conventional gasoline engine autos, according to automakers and
analysts.
Toyota is aiming to make as many as 400,000 hybrid vehicles in
2006, including Prius cars, Camry sedans, Highlander sport
utility vehicles and Coaster buses, almost two-thirds more than
its original production target, Watanabe said Monday in New York.
The carmaker is aiming to sell one million hybrid vehicles a year
by 2010.
"Toyota has been the leader of the pack in environmental
technology and they will probably continue to be," said Norihito
Kanai, an analyst at Meiji Dresdner Asset Management in Tokyo.
"Many of its rivals were at first not so aggressive in hybrids,
but now we see everyone joining."
Toyota's competitors are beginning to make gasoline-electric
hybrids as well. Honda Motor produces the Insight two-seat car,
and the Accord hybrid, and it will show off a new version of its
Civic compact hybrid in Frankfurt. Ford, which bought its hybrid
technology from Toyota, last year released a hybrid version of
its Escape sport utility vehicle.
Toyota facing patent lawsuit
The transmission used by Toyota Motor in its Prius
gasoline-electric vehicle has infringed on a patent owned by
Solomon Technologies, according to a lawsuit filed by the U.S.
maker of electric motors.
Solomon Technologies filed a suit Monday in federal court in
Tampa, Florida, seeking unspecified damages from Toyota. Toyota
is "looking into the law suit and the issue," said the carmaker's
spokeswoman, Ai Ishitoya, in Tokyo.
Solomon Technologies examined an existing Toyota Prius
transmission against its patent claims before filing its suit,
the statement said.
===
http://www.solomontechnologies.com/Solomon%20new/Article_Sues_Toyota.htm
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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EVLN(Audi Q7 debuts as Europe's 1st gas-electric hybrid)
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--- {EVangel}
http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/frankfurt13e_20050913.htm
FRANKFURT AUTO SHOW: Audi debuts Europe's first gas-electric
vehicle at show September 13, 2005 BY MARK PHELAN FREE PRESS
BUSINESS WRITER
FRANKFURT, Germany -- Audi unveiled the first gas-electric hybrid
vehicle from a European automaker at the Frankfurt auto show
Monday.
The German luxury brand will begin selling the hybrid version of
its new Q7 SUV in 2008, Audi Chairman Martin Winterkorn said.
The hybrid version of the low-slung and car-like Q7 will get 15%
better fuel economy and better performance than a gas-only
version of the SUV equipped with the same V8 engine used in the
hybrid, Winterkorn said.
European automakers have been slow to introduce hybrids because
the diesel engines popular in Europe also provide better fuel
economy, but at a considerably lower cost than the complicated
gas-electric models.
Audi developed the new hybrid system with its owner, Volkswagen
AG, and Porsche, which has a long history of collaborating on
vehicle development with the VW group.
Audi's fuel-economy gain is considerably more modest than those
of existing hybrids like the Ford Escape, Toyota Highlander and
Lexus RX 400h. Those hybrids have recently been criticized for
failing to deliver the fuel savings some owners expect. Diesel
engines typically use 20% to 30% less fuel than comparably
powerful gasoline engines.
Gas-powered 350-horsepower V8 and 280-horsepower V6 versions of
the Q7 go on sale in the United States next June and September,
respectively.
Audi also will offer a V6 diesel Q7 in Europe, but has not
decided if it will sell diesels in the United States.
[...]
Contact MARK PHELAN at 313-222-6731 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
===
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/09/audi_debuts_con.html
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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. EV List Editor, RE & AFV newswires
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EVLN(Talking GEMs with GPS give Spanish tours)
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http://heraldnet.com/stories/05/09/11/100bus_technotebook001.cfm
Published: Sunday, September 11, 2005
Electric car gives audio tour of Spanish city
MADRID, Spain - Attention, tourists: Forget about stumbling on
cobblestone and fumbling through guide books in stifling heat.
Entrepreneurs in the Spanish city of Cordoba have devised
battery-powered sightseeing cars with computers that talk.
The vehicles boast Global Positioning Satellite technology that
provides passengers with their location and explains attractions
with its tactile screen or audio recordings.
A memory card stuck into a USB port provides information in
Spanish, French or English on more than 150 attractions.
A trio of entrepreneurs launched the business, called Blobject,
in May after concluding that monument-rich Cordoba, featuring an
exquisite old quarter and a Moorish mosque with a Catholic
cathedral built around it, often got overlooked by tourists lured
to other southern Spanish cities, such as Seville or Granada.
"Cordoba's marketing was very poor," said co-founder Alfredo
Romeo.
The project joins GPS tourism efforts in places including
Montgomery, Ala., where IntelliTours LLC offers audio tours of
Civil War and civil-rights sites using similar technology.
[...]
>From Herald news services
===
http://www.blobject.es/
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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===== Undo Petroleum Everywhere
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Yahoo! for Good
Donate to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort.
http://store.yahoo.com/redcross-donate3/
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EVLN(Kaiser's $2k electrathon grant: Robots, Rockets & Girls, Oh
My!)
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--- {EVangel}
http://www.daytondailynews.com/community/content/localnews/neighbors/greene/0908kaiser.html
EDUCATION IS A GAS Teacher honored for innovative thinking
GCCC instructor earns grant for electric go-cart
By Helen Bebbington For the Dayton Daily News
FAIRBORN | With gas prices on the rise, teacher Robert Kaiser
wanted to help students focus on an alternative way to power
vehicles. Tools
Kaiser's innovative approach has earned him a $2,000 grant for
the project, and the possibility of a $25,000 prize.
The 2005 ING Unsung Heroes awards program recognized Kaiser, an
engineering technology instructor at the Greene County Career
Center. The awards program recognizes educators nationwide for
their innovative teaching methods. ING Group is a financial
institution.
Kaiser was one of 100 winners who received a $2,000 award, which
is put toward a classroom project. He is now eligible for one of
the top three prizes an additional $5,000, $10,000 or $25,000.
Kaiser said he has always believed in trying to find alternative
ways to fuel cars or heat homes.
"Every time I see a gas pump, I think, 'An electric vehicle costs
so much less to operate,'" Kaiser said.
Kaiser, 49, lives in Huber Heights and has taught classes at
Fairborn High School through the Greene County Career Center for
four years.
His proposal, which he called Silence is Golden, will assign
students the job of creating an electric go-cart. The grant money
will pay for an electric motor and controller, Kaiser said.
The "electrathon" will be powered completely by two 12-volt
batteries. "It's probably less than $1 to recharge them if
they're completely dead," he said. Kaiser estimates that it costs
2 cents per mile to drive an electrathon.
Kaiser said both seniors and juniors in engineering technology,
about 36 students in all, would be able to contribute their
skills and participate in creating the electric go-cart, which he
expects to be finished by February or March.
Kaiser spent the summer researching alternative energy projects.
He believes the technology exists to ease the world's dependence
on oil.
"I think all the companies have the technology to do it, but oil
companies are dreadfully afraid" of a mass production of commuter
cars that use other power sources, he said.
"Our dependence on fossil fuel would plummet," he said. "Even if
(people) plug the cars in their garages and recharge them, it
would still be less than (the cost of) using gasoline."
Kaiser said he visited California over the summer and saw wind
farms, where power is generated from turbines powered by the
wind. In 2004, the wind farms produced about 1.5 percent of
California's total electricity, according to the California
Energy Commission. The turbines use the energy in the motion of
the wind to make mechanical energy, which is then converted to
electrical energy.
"They are truly beautiful; there are thousands of these things
spinning in the wind," he said.
Kaiser said if he wins more grant money from ING at the next
level, he will focus on building a solar-powered car. He hopes to
be notified within the next two weeks about whether he has won
one of the top three prizes.
"What I am hoping is that the kids can learn there are other
methods of driving, that you don't have to drive down to the
local (gas) station," he said.
"One of these kids will go to college and say 'Let's build an
electric vehicle,'" he said.
"Bob does a very good job teaching engineering skills to the
kids," said Bob Cotter, principal at Fairborn High School. Cotter
said the engineering tech prep program, which is chiefly for
college-bound students, allows juniors and seniors to focus on
the field.
"Bob takes the ideas from the kids and lets them go," he said.
"He does a nice job."
Kaiser is also working to encourage female students to consider
engineering as a career.
Through a $7,000 grant from the Engineering Information
Foundation, Kaiser heads up the "Robots, Rockets and Girls, Oh
My!" program at Baker Junior High School.
Kaiser and 10 Baker female students build and test rockets. The
program's goal is to spark early interest in the field.
Copyright ©2005 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All
rights reserved.
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EVLN(85 Civic + batteries + Dispenza savvy = electric car)
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http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/12649394.htm
Posted on Thu, Sep. 15, 2005
Samuel Hoffman/The Journal Gazette
Bob Dispenza shows off his electrified Civic, which will run off
eight deep-cycle traction batteries used for golf carts.
M O R E N E W S F R O M topix.net Pollution Frank Gray
85 Civic body + golf cart batteries + savvy = electric car?
It happened on a hill in Akron, Ohio, in 1995.
A cog that connected the camshaft to the timing belt on Bob
Dispenzas 1985 Honda Civic became stripped. The camshaft quit
rotating. The motor didnt.
So as not to get too technical, lets just say Dispenzas car
broke about as bad as a car can break. It became garbage on
wheels.
Dispenza, though, coasted into a parking lot and shortly
thereafter decided that the body was in good shape so hed turn
his old car into an electric car.
Dispenza doesnt appear to have been in a hurry, though. For a
decade his project never got past being a pile of parts and a
derelict car that moved with him from place to place before
settling in Fort Wayne.
In the past month or so, though, motivated by gas prices that
rose above $3 a gallon, Dispenza has begun assembling the pieces
he has accumulated over the past 10 years and expects to have a
real electric car as soon as he makes a few final electrical
connections and installs $2,000 worth of batteries eight
deep-cycle traction batteries used for golf carts. The batteries
will be placed in special battery boxes, some in the engine
compartment, where theres room since the engine has been
removed, and some in the back of the car, where the gas tank used
to be.
Will the car work? Sure, Dispenza says, though hes not sure how
much pickup the car will have. The electric motor generates 20
horsepower.
Will it be able to travel far? Not really. It will have a range
of 50 to 100 miles after a six-hour charge.
So what? Dispenza asks. If you buy a little sports car, you only
drive it around town. You dont take long vacations in it. You
use a bigger car for that. So whats the problem with having an
electric car with a limited range? Hell drive the electric car
to the grocery but never the gas station and take his minivan
on vacations.
That makes sense.
An electric car doesnt really eliminate pollution, people have
told Dispenza. The power plant that generates the electricity to
charge the car pollutes. Yes, Dispenza says, but its easier to
control pollution from one smokestack than from half a million
tailpipes.
So Dispenza, an advocate of electric cars, plugs ahead, finishing
his long-neglected project, which was supposed to take 200 hours
to complete when he started it in 1995.
Electric cars have all kinds of advantages, Dispenza says.
Theres no cooling system to break. It will never throw a rod.
Theres no camshaft to quit turning and destroy the valves in the
engine. It never needs oil or gas. It doesnt need tuneups. An
electric engine lasts a long, long time.
The purely electric car, though, has been placed on the back
burner, he says. Electric cars developed by major carmakers were
available only in the West. They were ultimately decreed
unsuccessful and theyre being destroyed now.
There are hybrids, but they dont get much better mileage than
some small economy cars, Dispenza says. There is a lot of talk
about hydrogen fuel cells, but it will be a long time before that
technology and a way of delivering hydrogen to cars are
developed.
It makes you realize, though electric cars have been popping up
here and there for 30 years, nothing has changed much. The only
real alternatives to conventional cars are being made by home
tinkerers such as Dispenza, and even the technology they use
hasnt changed much. The kit Dispenza bought from the California
company in 1995 is still available today, he says.
Funny thing, nobody seems to be classifying Dispenza as a kook.
The reaction of most people to his battery-powered vehicle is,
That must be hard, converting the car, and, Can I have a ride
when youre done?
Frank Gray has held positions as a reporter and editor at The
Journal Gazette since 1982, and has been writing a column on
local issues since 1998. His column is published Sunday, Tuesday
and Thursday. He can be reached by phone at 461-8376; by fax at
461-8893; or e-mail at [EMAIL PROTECTED] To discuss this column or
others he has written recently, go to the Frank Gray topic of
The Board at www.journalgazette.net
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