EV Digest 6509
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Re: PowerCheq Modules and Zivan Charger Questions
by "George J. Jones, Jr." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2) My next EV project, or Paul goes Datsun
by "Paul G." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
3) Re: Motor mods
by James Massey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
4) EVLN(Audi: they will have to think thrice about picking on us)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
5) EVLN(phEVs ordered: Marin 22, Berkeley 40, Alameda 98)-LONG
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) EVLN(IL state law: cities to buy hybrids)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
7) EVLN(AR Hot Springs National Park Electric minivan)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
8) EVLN(Six-month CO phEV study)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
9) EVLN(UK DOT: EVs are quadricycles not cars)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
10) EVLN(Florida Tech's REV)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--- Begin Message ---
David,
Have you considered BattEQT: Continuous Charge Balancing
http://tinyurl.com/yoj95e
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <ev@listproc.sjsu.edu>
Sent: Sunday, March 04, 2007 6:26 PM
Subject: PowerCheq Modules and Zivan Charger Questions
> Hello Group,
>
> I am seriously considering buying 11 PowerCheq battery equalizer modules for
> my pack of 12, 12 Volt Lead Acid Batteries. I have an on-board Zivan NG-3
> Charger. Is there any known challenge to running this 3 step charger with
> the
> Powercheq modules on the batteries? Will I get any error indication on the
> charger?
>
> I have to do something for equalization. I have three batteries getting full
> before the others. Don't want to just "Cook" those three while the others
> fill up.
>
> Thanks!
>
> David
> <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now offers free
> email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
> http://www.aol.com.
>
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
After a successful search for just the right donor car I have my next
EV project, a 1966 Datsun 411 wagon. I had a preference for a early
small sedan, but its not often you get a chance to buy a 41 year old
car with only 92,000 miles on it. I'm hoping to hear your ideas on how
to help it meet my needs. I put up a quickie page with links to some
photos of it at:
<http://paul-g.home.comcast.net/next.htm>.
My goal is to build a vehicle for my commute and local errands. My
commute is short, around 8 miles round trip with about 1/2 of it
freeway miles (and yes, I expect to keep up.)
What I have in mind is a small pack of AGMs and a suitable motor
feeding the stock 4 speed gearbox (its in great shape.) This old car is
a bit heavy, at around 2100 lb. It is also not the greatest on battery
room. The under hood area is about 24 inches by 24 inches and naturally
not all of it is available for batteries (mostly the master cylinder
cuts into it a little.) In the back, where the spare tire sits now with
the fuel tank underneath, I can create a space around 29 inches by 24
inches and keep the stock load floor in place. Front and rear, depth is
not an issue. I'm targeting a pack voltage between 120 and 156 volts.
Initially I was thinking about using group 31 AGMs, but shape of the
available space hints that group 34 AGMs (such as the standard YT
Optima or Exide Orbital battery) may fit better. I'm open to ideas.
I want to get a new set of wheels and tires on it before I tear out the
ICE. Right now its running on 3 P165/80R13 tires (complete with
cracking side walls) and an old 5.60-13 bias-ply whitewall tire on the
left front corner (that made for some "interesting" handling on the
freeway.) Wheel selection is somewhat limited but the bolt pattern and
required offset is the same as a Geo Metro (4 lug on a 4.5 inch
pattern, about +38 offset.) My options are either 13 inch with the same
P-metric tire size or 14 inch with either P175/70R14 or P185/65R15.
Anything larger than that could present some rear tire fit issues (the
rear fender wells are designed to maximize the back seat.) Ideas here
to minimize wheel weight and tire rolling resistance are welcome (but
>$200 each Panasport wheels are a bit rich for me.)
Enough of me talking. Please check it out and give me your ideas!
Paul "neon" G.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
At 10:46 AM 4/03/07 -0800, Jim wrote:
Hey James, all
James and I have had a one on one chat on these motors
<snip>
I like what you did with the new lead setup but they
appear pretty thick and I'm wondering if you've
checked to see they'll fit between the riser yet??
And there lies the voice of experience (could have given me a 'heads up' on
the chance of that!) - the bars before being insulated cleared, but I think
(in hindsight) they were moving a bit to find a "home" between the various
field connections. Once the insulation went on there was no room at the inn.
Plan 'b' - rather than spend a lot of time making convoluted leads that
will clear I'm just going to make two more 'L' pieces (the parts attached
to the terminals), two more insulators and so have four studs out the back,
with crossover bars on the outside. Hopefully the crossover bars are long
enough to be used on the outside, if not then cables will have to do.
I ask cause I can see that the CE bearing is locked
into the plate still (making it harder for a test
fit). I also ask because in doing Bill Dube's first
CE plate, the lead hit the coils (I didn't check) and
I had to redo the whole thing, really ticked me off,
lol.
And so came the experience... that I now have, too!
James is running low on the FusasFab I sent him and
asked if a Nomex sheet would be okay for a seperater
between the two leads. I responded yes, but on seeing
the pics I see you need to make sure that you protect
it from the opposing holder which I see you posted
about already.
The insulating all went so well, a piece of Nomex wrapped around the
'under' lead where it passes the brush holder, with a curved tail back to
where the bars seperated. Wrapped in Fusa-Fab then the pair wrapped
together... AAARRGHHH when it wouldn't assemble. It looked neatly as good
as a Hi-Torque job :^)
Hope you don't feel I'm picking on you here 8^P
Just trying to point out things to look for as FYI's.
I really like the way you tied the lead / terminal
connection for the face mount 8^)
Keep up the good work helping to get EV's on the road.
I know James doesn't have 5 flavors of motor shop
down there
(If you need an AC motor rewound, three reasonable motor shops, anything
else and you take your chances...)
so it's gotta be tough to do with what's at
hand. I guess I'm saying it's pretty easy to make a
hamburger when you work at McDonalds, LMAO!
Please keep me posted on how they workout for the guy.
Hope this helps. Yeah I know, like salt on a snail,
hehe.
Cya
Jim Husted
Hi-Torque Electric
Regards
[Technik] James
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(Audi: they will have to think thrice about picking on us)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
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--- {EVangel}
http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2007/03/03/038933.html
Geneva Car Show Going Green
FRANKFURT, March 2, 2007; Michael Shields, European Auto
Correspondent writing for Reuters reported that challenged to cut
cars' output of climate-warming greenhouse gases, global
automakers get the chance at next week's show in Geneva to prove
they can make products that are fun to drive but won't wreck the
environment.
The only question is whether people will buy them.
With media days on Tuesday and Wednesday, Geneva is an annual
showcase for new models and technologies. The accent this year
will be more on green power than horse power.
"This time we will have an environmental show in Geneva," said
Willi Dietz, who studies the car industry for Germany's
Nuertingen University. The watchword will be "more intellect
instead of emotion", he said.
Japanese carmakers, who made hybrids a household word, will be on
hand to burnish their green halos.
Toyota Motor Co, maker of the Prius hybrid, will display its
"Hybrid X" concept car signalling future design trends for its
range of cars that combine an electric motor and battery with a
standard combustion engine to cut fuel consumption.
[...]
DON'T MESS WITH US
BMW diplays a 1-Series car with a system that captures energy
from braking and feeds it to the battery to help acceleration.
Its 143-horsepower engine emits 123 g/km of CO2.
[...]
"The reality of life is that there is no real customer trend
towards cars that have CO2 emissions of, say, 130 g/km," Tim
Tozer, Mitsubishi Motors' Europe head, said last month.
Makers of autos such as Porsche and Volkswagen's Audi say
politicians are kidding themselves if they think they can impose
uniform CO2 caps once Europe's carmakers miss voluntary CO2 goals
for the sector.
"Brussels will have to think thrice if they want to pick on us,"
Audi CEO Rupert Stalder said this week, suggesting it would cut
jobs if saddled with environmental laws that crimp sales.
Porsche development chief Wolfgang Duerheimer told German
newspaper Die Zeit the company's very existence was at stake.
"A manufacturer like Porsche that abandons the goal of developing
sporty and safe vehicles that are better than those of rivals
will soon disappear from the market," he said.
(Additional reporting for Reuters by Jan Schwartz in Hamburg)
Copyright © 1996-2006 The Auto Channel.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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Access over 1 million songs.
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http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/006226.html
Interview with Jodie Van Horn of Freedom from Oil and Plug-in Bay
Area WorldChanging Team March 3, 2007 3:23 AM
by Worldchanging SF local blogger, Britt Bravo:
In September 2006, Marin County soft ordered 22 Plug-in Hybrids
Electric Vehicles. In October the City of Berkeley soft ordered
40 plug-ins and in December the city of Alameda soft ordered 98.
What's going on? The three Bay Area municipalities, along with
Oakland and San Francisco (who haven't placed their orders yet)
have all signed-on to be part of Plug-In Bay Area, an initiative
to put more plug-in hybrid vehicles on the road.
I talked with Jodie Van Horn, a campaigner for Rainforest Action
Network's Freedom From Oil campaign, and the coordinator for
Plug-In Bay Area about the plug-in campaign in the Bay Area as
well as the national Freedom from Oil Campaign. Below is a
transcript from the interview, which you can also listen to on
the Big Vision Podcast.
Jodie Van Horn: Plug-In Bay Area is a national grassroots effort
to try to commercialize plug-in hybrid vehicles. We do that by
pressuring automakers to start rolling these vehicles off of
their assembly lines.
This was an initiative that began in the city of Austin, Texas
with the municipally owned utility company, Austin Energy. They
saw a need for a mode of ultra-efficient transportation that
would plug in to a clean grid, and shift our fuel source off of
gasoline, and provide us with an opportunity to find a cleaner,
cheaper, domestic source of fuel and energy specifically for the
transportation sector.
They began by setting a target of 50 U.S. cities. They were going
to go out to those cities and try to form partnerships with the
cities, to get the Mayors or the council members of those cities,
at a policy level, to endorse the Plug-In Partner campaign, and
then subsequently to get them to place a soft fleet order. A soft
fleet order is an indication on the part of the municipality that
were these vehicles to be commercially produced by the
automakers, that municipality would buy "x" number of them the
day they become available.
The desire of Austin Energy, and of this national initiative was
to demonstrate that there is an existing market for a cleaner
electric source of transportation, and that there is a
recognition on the part of municipalities, businesses and
consumers that technologies exist that will enable us to wean
ourselves off of oil, and shift over to a new paradigm for our
transportation needs.
>From there, these efforts were springing up all over the country.
They began with their approach of municipalities, mostly cities
and counties. They were extremely successful in generating the
support of politicians all over the country.
At a grassroots level, there had also been support for
solution-based organizing around oil addiction, and around
transportation, fermenting from some time. When this program
sprang up, Rainforest Action Network, had been involved in
campaigns surrounding the crushing of the EV1 a decade ago, which
happened here in California -- with the car mandate -- many
people have now seen Who Killed The Electric Car, and it goes
into explaining that story quite well. So we had a history of
organizing around transportation through our Jumpstart Ford
campaign, which now has transitioned into our Freedom From Oil
campaign.
With that history we recognized that plug-in hybrid vehicles are
an immediate and viable solution to the issues that we have been
trying to pressure automakers to acknowledge over the course of
this campaign here at RAN. We picked this up and we dedicated a
staff person to coordinate a local effort to get Bay Area cities
and counties on board to support the national effort, and to
contribute their soft fleet orders to the national demand for
plug-in hybrids.
Britt Bravo: What are some things that are happening with
plug-ins here in the Bay Area?
JVH: In the first six months we had five Bay Area partner
municipalities; San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda and
Marin County all sign on. Out of those, Marin County, Alameda and
Berkeley have all placed their soft fleet orders. We're also
working with those cities on generating some demonstration
projects.
It's a really exciting time. We've had announcements out of some
of the automakers that there is a potential that they're building
this platform for these plug-in hybrid vehicles to be produced.
They haven't set any production dates, or indicated any numbers
for their production. We don't want this to become a niche
market. We see this as a potential future for transportation, or
at least an immediate step to having ultra-efficient choices in
vehicles for the public.
What we're trying to do is generate enough support to indicate
that we need these announcements out of the auto industry to
translate into something tangible. We're doing that by trying to
bide our time until that promise comes, or until that commitment
comes, by actually putting as many of these vehicles out on the
road as possible and watching them operate in a real-world
function; generating data on their emissions, reductions and fuel
savings; educating the public about their potential to help us
solve our oil addiction, and really getting them out into the
hands of fleet operators; holding educational conferences and
demo projects where people can rally behind this technology and
continue to build that pressure on automakers so that they
actually come through with some commitments on when and how many
they're going to build.
BB: What is a plug-in hybrid?
JVN: A plug-in hybrid is essentially a conventional hybrid
vehicle, like a Toyota Prius, with an additional battery pack
that extends the range of the vehicle in all electric mode, and
then adds a plug for overnight charging. It's a little bit like
having an electric vehicle with a back-up gas tank. You can drive
all electric for the extended range of your battery charge, and
then when you reach the end of your battery capacity you have a
backup engine in case you need to do long-distance driving. You
always have the support of a back-up engine that ideally is a
flexible fuel engine, which could be powered with bio-fuels or
domestically grown cellulosic ethanol or some other more
sustainable fuels than gasoline. It makes a much more sustainable
vehicle and it doubles your fuel efficiency.
Additionally it decreases your carbon footprint and your tailpipe
emissions significantly. Especially if you are plugging your
vehicle into a clean grid, you're powering your car literally
with renewable energy like wind or solar, that's coming directly
from the grid and into your car, as opposed to filling your car
with dirty gasoline, that's a foreign source of oil, and that has
all of the implications of the chain of production of oil. It's
much cheaper for the consumer; it's under a dollar a gallon to
fuel your vehicle with electricity as opposed to gasoline, so
there's a real consumer incentive to support this technology.
Environment aside, from a consumers standpoint it makes a
tremendous amount of sense.
BB: What's preventing this from happening? What is the argument
against plug-in hybrids?
JVH: The primary argument coming out of the automakers at this
time is I believe a bit of a cover-up for a larger problem, which
is simply the inertia on the part of companies to change their
model of business; to change their way of doing things. It would
not require a huge investment on the part of automakers and what
investment it incurs will be paid back over time in the savings
from switching over to more highly efficient vehicles. This has
been proven through studies that have been done of the current
vehicles on the market and that demonstrate that even with
existing technologies, we could improve the overall fuel
efficiency of vehicle fleets to 40 miles per gallon without even
implementing new technologies.
Plug-in hybrids fit into that, and the one piece that automakers
are claiming is an impediment to putting these cars on the road
is the battery technology. So we are looking at finding batteries
that hold a charge for a long period of time, that give people
the extended range that they need to do their commuting, and new
technology such as the lithium ion battery have the potential to
do that, but right now they are very expensive because automakers
haven't invested the R&D money into those battery technologies to
really stimulate the change that is needed for them to be able to
use those batteries in the application of the plug-in hybrid. So
it is sort of a chicken and the egg. They need to put the money
into making the battery technology available, but they are
claiming that they can't do that. They can't produce the vehicles
because the battery technology isn't there.
We are seeing some breakthroughs on this. They have applied for
federal money for battery research and development, which is
promising, it indicates that they are serious about looking into
electric transportation and they are exploring the battery
question, but I think that the other issue is simply just the
larger issue that it is hard to get corporations to change their
behavior, and as we saw with Who Killed the Electric Car, there
is a strong relationship between the oil industry and the
transportation industry, and until we are able to shift
transportation away from the oil companies, it's going to be
difficult for us to make major headway in defeating oil as our
primary source of fuel and so the more that we can pressure
automakers into believing that there is a public perception that
oil is a fuel of the past, and that there is an urgency with
climate change, with national security, and with the price of oil
to get ourselves off of it, I don't think the automakers are
going to change out of the goodness of their hearts.
BB: Can you talk a little bit about the other aspects of the
Freedom from Oil campaign?
JVH: So Freedom from Oil is a campaign that looks at the
behaviors of automakers and tries to pressure them and negotiate
with them in order to have them change their behavior and really
be the leaders in weaning America off of oil.
Transportation in this country represents 70% of American oil
consumption and so it is a major piece of the pie if we are
talking about switching over to renewable energies and getting
off of this very dirty fuel source. This is why we have chosen
the transportation sector as the area where we really feel we
need to focus our efforts if we are going to have an impact on
climate change, and on national security, and so what we have
done is taken an approach to try to convince automakers that they
need to do a variety of things in order to maintain their
positions as leaders of an industry, so looking especially at the
behaviors of Ford, GM, DaimlerChrysler and Toyota, which are the
major players, the four out of the big six in our country that
are producing vehicles, and asking one of them to step out in
front of the industry and really make commitments to fuel
economy, make commitments to greenhouse gas reductions across
their fleet, make commitments to producing ultra fuel efficient
vehicles, and harnessing
Additionally, there has been a lot of rhetoric on the part of the
automakers regarding the greenness of their operations, when in
fact what we are seeing is a lot of green-washing. They recognize
that green is very vogue right now. They recognize that citizens
are extremely concerned about global warming. They recognize that
consumers have made the connection between climate change and
transportation, and so they are trying to portray their vehicles
as green choices.
And we have seen, in the case of Toyota, we've seen them come out
with a hold on the hybrid market, and look like a very green
company, but at last month's Detroit auto show the premier
vehicle that they displayed was one of the largest trucks in the
industry, and so until we see actual production matching the PR
that is coming out of these companies, we don't feel that we can
afford to take the pressure off of them to create commitments
instead of faulty promises, or to create commitments instead of
PR, and we do that in a number of ways. We do that by showing up
at auto shows and giving voice to the public, and you know just
the old fashioned stand out there with your banners and get
heard, and get heard by the media and be the dissenting voice
that calls out their green-washing and that makes it clear that
there's a lot more that these companies could be doing.
Additionally, many of the large automakers are involved in the
State of California in a lawsuit to sue the State of California
for trying to impose regulations on tailpipe emissions, and for
companies that are trying to portray themselves as green
companies, it is unacceptable that they are trying to impede
progress in the State of California for us to have healthier air
for California consumers and California citizens and to try to
regulate our state greenhouse gas impacts.
So it is highlighting those hypocrisies and working to spread the
word and generate more support amongst the public, and to put
more consumer and reputational pressure on automakers for them to
clean up their act and match their words to their deeds.
BB: How can people who are listening get involved?
JVH: To get involved in the Freedom from Oil campaign, there are
a variety of ways that we hope to work with communities, work
with labor, work with effected oil communities and work with
grassroots activists to try to mobilize a movement to pressure
automakers and on our Freedom Fom Oil website which is just
freedomfromoil.org, there is a list of tactics that we use that
we hope to engage people in, and it ranges from fun and creative
actions like the Oil Enforcement Agency, which is going out and
starting to take the specs on big SUVs and writing them tickets
for their gas guzzling and for their emissions, to holding an Oil
Addicts Anonymous meeting in your town to bring community members
together to talk about oil addiction, and to figure out how you
can organize to get involved in the campaign, and in the
movement. That would look like a meeting to first admit our
addiction to oil, and then to talk about some of the ways in your
community that you can either pass a resolution; for example,
through the City Council to wean your city or county off of oil,
and to adopt m
If there is interest in starting a local campaign to promote
plug-in hybrids, this can be done in a variety of ways either
through working with a municipality, or initially getting
businesses to sign on. Businesses often have fleet vehicles, or
at least have ideal lobbying power for creating rebate programs
or incentives for employees to purchase fuel efficient vehicles,
and there is kind of a campaign-plan menu of options available
through the Plug-in Partners web site, or by contacting me at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] to discuss the plug-in work or the Freedom from Oil
work.
BB: How did you get involved in this kind of work?
JVH: Well, I really started out as kind of a college activist who
felt that things weren't right in the world. I wanted to see them
improve and I was looking for ways to get involved. I came about
it by way of fair trade and economic justice issues and got very
concerned with the growing climate justice movement and how that
not only affects generations to come, but it affects people,
communities living on the ground today, and became increasingly
concerned about resource extraction and its impact on those
communities, and how that ties in so strongly to these climate
issues and to resource extraction.
I was very fortunate to come across the Rainforest Action
Network, which has been working on these issues for decades, and
to find a niche within this organization to be able to carry out
the work that I felt passionate about. I applied for this job
with the Freedom from Oil campaign because I see climate change,
in particular, as one of the most pressing issues of our time. I
see that there is a major tipping point happening in the global
climate change movement and consciousness of global warming,
thanks in part to Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth, and
simply the manifestations that we have seen from hurricanes to
melting icecaps, and that it's a time that I could not be working
on anything else but this.
I am so pleased that an organization like Rainforest Action
Network exists that is working on these issues with a variety of
other allies and key organizations that are really working with
people on the ground to make a difference and to shift our
economy off of destructive, extractive fuels and resources, and
provide a more sustainable future.
BB: How do you keep inspired?
JVH: I think I am most consistently inspired by the people that I
meet when I am traveling around this country who are working in
their own capacity on various aspects of these issues. When I
realize that I am this small person in the midst of a growing,
global movement that is so massive and so important, and when I
travel to college campuses and I see students who are putting
school work aside to be engaged in campaigns to promote a
healthier future for all of us, and when I go to affected
communities, and I see the destruction on the ground translating
into action and hope among the people most affected, and I hear
them speak, I know that my place needs to be participating in
that in some way.
I am most purely given hope by all those folks out there that I
work with on a day-to-day basis, or that I interact with at some
juncture in this movement, who make me feel not alone in the work
that I do and help me know that there is an alternative that many
people are working towards, and we are working against a
difficult system, but we're in it together. Through that, I
believe it is possible.
BB: Is there anything else you want people to know about the
Freedom from Oil campaign or Plug-in Partners, or Plug-in Bay
Area?
JVH: The bigger vision specifically for the plug-in work, but how
it really ties into a lot of other work we do, ties into
rainforests, which is clearly in our mission statement and in our
name as the Rainforest Action Network, and ties into climate
justice issues and economic justice issues, and that is with the
plug-in work there is an opportunity to not only plug our
vehicles in, and drive on electric power, but to stimulate a
greening of the grid so that we can get off of fossil fuels. That
is where we see the real momentum behind this particular
technology being is that it has implications for our grid energy
to be able to green the grid.
You can't green gasoline, you can't green fossil fuels, but you
can make the grid greener over time, and if we create an economy
that is poised to do so then we are actually able to see a chain
effect, stimulate an economy for renewables and we eliminate a
lot of the chain of production issues and we get oil companies
off of indigenous lands, and we get pipelines out of rainforests.
There is a bigger picture here that we have acknowledged, that we
feel if executed properly, there are wide-ranging implications
that can help us achieve our commitments to forests, to climate,
and to the people that live in those places that are most
affected by these types of projects.
I guess the only other thing I would add is that we, as an
organization, really hope to provide a grassroots network of
activists with the tools or the training, or simply the support,
to make change. We dedicate a lot of time intentionally to
supporting other campaigns and supporting other efforts, and
working in solidarity with groups who have a similar mission in
mind, and a similar vision for this planet.
As a Freedom from Oil campaign, we really hope to work with more
activists and provide what we can to support efforts that are
happening on the ground to solve some of these issues. By
contacting Rainforest Action Network, or by contacting the
campaign, or by contacting our coalition partner, Global
Exchange, activists out there working on these issues, should
feel empowered to tap into a network, and should help empower us
to tap into their network so that we can all work together to
solve some of these problems. We have mandated ourselves to do
what we can to support those groups because that's really where
change is happening, is from the ground up.
For more information about Rainforest Action Network's Freedom
from Oil campaign, go to freedomfromoil.com. For more information
about a plug-in campaign in your area, go to pluginpartners.org.
Britt Bravo also blogs at Have Fun * Do Good, NetSquared and
BlogHer. WorldChanging Team
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
' ____
~/__|o\__
'@----- @'---(=
. http://geocities.com/brucedp/
. EV List Editor, RE & AFV newswires
. (originator of the above ASCII art)
===== Undo Petroleum Everywhere
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http://pantagraph.com/articles/2007/03/03/money/doc45e8a97d6fdfd869833163.txt
Lawmaker wants cities to buy hybrid cars
By Blackwell Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED]
SPRINGFIELD A law passed last year means that all vehicles
purchased by the state must be hybrid or powered by flexible
fuel. But the state representative who sponsored the law now
wants to extend its reach to every town and city government in
Illinois.
State Rep. Mike Boland, D-East Moline, said Friday that requiring
towns and cities to purchase partially electric cars, or vehicles
fueled by the ethanol-based E85, is a matter of sound
environmental and economic policy.
Boland said the use of clean burning ethanol, which comes from a
number of plants, including Illinois cash crops like corn and
soybeans, could prove to be a financial boon to the states
farmers and rural communities.
Its a job-producer for rural Illinois, he said. It puts more
money in the pockets of farmers who in turn go and buy goods at
their local retailers there in the small towns and hopefully
purchase new tractors, spreaders, combines
from places like the
Quad Cities where those farm implements are produced.
Demand for hybrid and flex fuel vehicles has outstripped supply
and resulted in waiting lists and higher prices for the vehicles.
Coupled with the small number of gas stations that sell E85,
Boland said there will be challenges.
Hopefully that will go down as more and more manufacturers
produce more of them, he said of the cost of hybrids.
Joe Schatteman, spokesman for the Illinois Municipal League,
which lobbies on behalf of cities in Illinois, said higher prices
are part of the reason his organization does not support Bolands
effort.
We feel it would be best for the market to dictate when the
purchase (of flex fuel and hybrid vehicles) is made and not the
state, he said. Because the market is allowing it, we dont
feel this is necessary.
Schatteman added that towns without E85 would see their tax
dollars head to neighboring areas where residents could fill up
their tanks.
Based upon that there will be many municipalities that wont want
to purchase them because its not the opportune time, theres not
enough gas stations offering E85, he said. We know there are
some towns that have purchased flex fuels and hybrids and thats
great, we are happy they did that. But at the same time it really
should not be mandated.
Because it pre-empts local laws, Bolands bill faces an uphill
fight and will require a super-majority in both chambers of the
General Assembly to pass.
Copyright © 2007, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises.
All rights reserved.
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http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2007/03/03/ap-state-ar/d8nksnpo0.txt
State News Hot Springs National Park becoming greener
Saturday, March 3, 2007 1:36 PM CST
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Hot Springs National Park wants to tap into
its namesake thermally heated springs as an energy source, as
part of an effort to become as environmentally friendly as
possible.
The national park recently received a new electric vehicle, to go
along with a fleet that also uses biofuel.
"We want to become fossil-fuel independent as best we can, and
convert as much as possible," Hot Springs National Park
Superintendent Josie Fernandez said of the hot springs.
Last month, the 5,550-acre park received an electric minivan to
add to its fleet of two other electric vehicles. Six of the
park's utility trucks run on biofuel as well.
"This isn't going to replace liquid fuels, because all have their
optimum place in society. Bigger trucks need more power that fuel
can provide. But these (electric vehicles) do have a place in
it," Facility Manager Leonard Lawson said.
[...]
On the Net:
Hot Springs National Park: http://www.nps.gov/hosp/
Information from: The Sentinel-Record, http://www.hotsr.com
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
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http://www.physorg.com/news91731110.html
With a smart grid, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles could have
system benefits
Xcel Energy announced the results of a six-month study related to
plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and how an increase in
their popularity may affect Colorado. The study found that PHEVs
may result in a reduction of the overall expense of owning a
vehicle and, with the help of smart-grid technologies, eliminate
harmful vehicle emissions by up to 50 percent.
The study looked at how adding PHEVs to the road could affect the
electric power grid depending on when and where the cars were
charging. It also looked at the overall emission footprint of
these vehicles, the decreased vehicle fuel costs and how PHEVs
could impact the companys production and capacity costs.
Xcel Energys Utility Innovations group worked with the U.S.
Department of Energys National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) on the study. A cutting-edge computer-modeling program was
used to measure the impact of a mass penetration of PHEVs and how
much energy would be required to charge them.
NRELs program was able to simulate adding vehicles to the roads
in large increments, under real driving conditions, simulating an
increase in the market penetration of these vehicles. The study
revealed that these cars, each equipped with a 9 kilowatt-hour
battery, could reduce overall CO2 vehicles emissions by half.
They could also save owners more than $450 in fuel costs each
year compared to a traditional combustion engine vehicle.
Hybrid gas/electric vehicles are already on the market and PHEVs
are staged for growth, so we wanted to know how that could affect
our business, said Mike Carlson, CIO, Xcel Energy. Depending on
when customers choose to recharge, adding PHEVs to the road may
help reduce overall emissions of CO2 without significant
increases in utility infrastructure. In other words, PHEVs could
be one piece of the puzzle to solving our global climate change
problem.
How much would be saved in vehicle emissions depends on when
drivers charge their cars. Incentive programs may induce
customers to charge their PHEVs at certain times and will help
Xcel Energy minimize emissions and operating costs as well as
incremental utility infrastructure investment. Successfully
managing a charging program will depend on a smart utility grid,
said Ray Gogel, chief administrative officer for Xcel Energy.
This study is one step we are taking to demonstrate how to use
energy more efficiently through smart-grid technologies. In order
to make a dent in issues like climate change and dependence on
foreign oil, the grid must change. Plug-in hybrid electric
vehicles have the potential to help us better use renewable and
other nontraditional energy sources while creating a grid that is
more interconnected, balanced and reliable.
Plans are in place to work towards a more intelligent utility
grid. While the specific impact has yet to be studied, technology
already exists to allow customers to feed excess power from their
own PHEV, back onto the grid. This can potentially lead to better
use of renewable energy sources and improved reliability. Future
studies will include PHEV field tests and evaluate the ability to
manage the charging process in conjunction with the availability
of renewable energy sources.
Source: NREL © PhysOrg.com 2003-2007
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http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2026179,00.html
That's no car, it's an eco-quadricycle
Juliette Jowit, transport editor
Sunday March 4, 2007 The Observer
Electric cars have been excluded from a government list of the
most environmentally friendly vehicles, but some of the most
fuel-guzzling supercar makes, including Ferrari, Lamborghini and
Bentley, have been accepted.
The Department for Transport has concluded that electric vehicles
should not be classified as 'cars' but as 'quadricycles'.
However, supercars have been included because Whitehall wants to
advise buyers of all models - even at the top of the range.
'Within a certain category of car, there are better ones and
worse ones,' said a DfT spokesman. 'The focus of the campaign is
partly to let people know that buying a greener car doesn't
necessarily mean buying a hybrid or one of the traditionally seen
greener cars.'
But critics have ridiculed the omission of electric vehicles.
'The ridiculous thing is they are cars to you and I; they are
cars to the man on the street,' said one motor industry insider.
Going Green, the company which imports the G-Whiz electric car
from India, also expressed dismay. 'If it looks like a car and
it's used like a car, then it's a car,' said Keith Johnston, the
company's managing director. 'This says much about the
government's environmental motoring capability when the greenest
"car" on the road, according to the government's own figures, is
overlooked.'
Only 1 per cent of the 33m cars on Britain's roads are not
powered by petrol or diesel, and fewer than 900 are electric. An
early version of the government's list, published as part of its
Act on CO2 campaign, highlighted the savings drivers could make
by buying a more fuel-efficient model, whatever its size.
The campaign will also promote 'eco-driving' techniques to save
fuel, such as smoother acceleration and braking, and changing
gears at the right time.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
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http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070304/BUSINESS/703040310/1003
March 4, 2007 Car leads technology
BY MARIA SONNENBERG FOR FLORIDA TODAY
[
http://cmsimg.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=A9&Date=20070304&Category=BUSINESS&ArtNo=703040310
Race design. Florida's Tech's Jason Minor tests the driver's seat
of an electric car he helped design as a member of the school's
Racing Electric Vehicle team. Kathleen Hinkel, FLORIDA TODAY]
A one-seater car is racing to expand knowledge about electric
vehicles.
Florida Tech's REV, or Racing Electric Vehicle, will never trudge
through a daily commute, but the technology developed for the
speedy little auto may one day be incorporated into mass-produced
vehicles.
The student project won for best design at the Florida Electric
Auto Association's international conference, beating out other
models from the United States and Canada.
By creating a responsive automobile that can attain high speeds,
the Florida Tech project serves to highlight electric drive
technologies in a dramatic way.
REV is being fine-tuned to compete in the tight twists and turns
of auto-cross racing.
Florida Tech senior and REV team leader Elizabeth Diaz is sure
the little car will reach speeds up to 85 miles an hour when REV
competes in acceleration, auto-cross and endurance at Dartmouth
College in May.
Diaz anticipates continued interest in electric vehicles.
"Once the hybrid becomes mainstream, it is just the next level,"
she said. "You just plug in your car at night, and you're ready
to go in the morning."
Part of REV's purpose for being is to draw attention to the
potential of electric power systems.
Electric vehicles have been around since the 1830s, when
Scotland's Robert Anderson first developed a bare-bones idea for
a horseless carriage.
In the 1890s, interest in the possibilities of electric autos led
to cars like the 1902 Wood's Electric Phaeton.
With a maximum speed of 14 miles an hour and a range of 18 miles,
the Phaeton was no speed demon, but the $2,000 buggy-with-motor
was popular at a time when people traveled in very small
circles.
The gas-guzzling competitors of the Phaeton were noisy and
unwieldy -- that is, until gas engine technology caught up and
surpassed the Phaeton and its kind.
Interest in electric cars waned during decades when Americans
enjoyed seemingly inexhaustible oil supplies.
But, by the 1970s, skyrocketing gas prices and new environmental
sensibilities again turned hearts and minds to electric
vehicles.
Florida Tech adjunct professor Frank Leslie remembers a little
Sebring CitiCar that a security guard drove at Patrick Air Force
Base's Tech Labs in the late-1960s.
"It was a square, boxy-looking thing," said Leslie, who teaches a
course on renewable energy at Florida Tech's College of
Engineering. "The cars were there, but came and went. The demand
just wasn't there."
During the 1990s, several companies manufactured electric
vehicles with speeds up to 40 miles per hour and a range of up to
60 miles before recharging.
New pollution regulations in the '90s also added fuel to the
electric-car movement, with results like the U.S. Electricar's
S-10 pickup, which could run at highway speeds with larger ranges
than any of the previous models.
Downside: They were pricey, costing up to $40,000.
Critics still contend that electric cars won't meet the needs of
people who travel more than 100 miles a day.
But Leslie, who is the REV team adviser and president of the
Florida Renewable Energy Association, thinks electric cars can be
a very viable alternative for a large percentage of the U.S.
population.
"Studies have shown that 90 percent of U.S. drivers drive less
than 40 miles per day," Leslie said. "A standard 120-volt
extension cord could "fuel" their cars."
Rapidly changing electric technology has done away with the
CitiCar and the overgrown golf carts that passed as electric
cars, giving way to high-performance race vehicles that leave
many gasoline cars in the dust.
[...]
Still, Leslie believes electric cars -- or at least some part of
the electric technology -- may one day become mainstream.
"The way I see future cars are the plug-in hybrids," Leslie said.
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