We have heard some interesting claims about upcoming electric vehicles before but 175 mph for the Volta G/T (pictured above) definitely raises some eyebrows. While being interviewed by CBS4 at his offices in Boulder, CO, we heard Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) president Bill Kent state that, "Performance wise, this bike will do zero to 50 in about 4.5 seconds". Ok, that's pretty quick and, for all we know, it's entirely possible. He then went on to say, "In the series you have top ends that range from about 120 to 175 miles per hour." Whoa! Now that's fast! But is it true?
According to the specs listed (PDF) on the EVC website, the fastest bike in their 3 deep line-up is the EVC-21. The top speed listed for this lithium ion battery powered machine is 110 mph which is still pretty fast considering the Vectrix is "only" capable of a humble 62 mph. It could be that the information at the website is outdated or that possibly Mr. Kent misspoke. CBS reporter Dave Aguilera did take the bike for a ride but as he was not on a track (or wearing a helmet), we don't think he had the chance to wind it out. According to the report, six bike models will be available this summer with prices starting at $8,000. We look forward to news of the official launch and more details.
It's not often that a Hummer is pictured here on AutoblogGreen but this particular brute, owned by hydraulic hose and belt supplier Gates, is being converted to a hydraulic hybrid using a system developed by Hybra-Drive. We introduced them to you in '07 and now that they're making some news, we wanted to bring them back. Their set-up, you'll remember, uses a conventional engine to pressurize a hydraulic system to send power to the wheels which is said by the company to reduce fuel consumption by more than half and reduce emissions as much as 90 percent.
It seems this small Deerfield, MI business has been chosen over some of the more established firms like Eaton to "negotiate with the Parcel Delivery Working Group of the Hybrid Truck Users Forum (HTUF) in Pasadena, Calif. for validation and testing of hybrid hydraulic power on parcel delivery vehicles," according to the Great Lakes IT report on WWJ Newsradio 950. HTUF is a branch of Calstart that, through forums and working groups, works to help commercialize hybrid designs for trucks. So maybe we'll be seeing hydraulic hybrid systems used in vehicles besides the Peterbilt garbage truck at some point in the future.
Ecotricity founder Dale Vince is a guy with a dilemma we here at AutoblogGreen can empathize with. He's very environmentally aware yet he really likes fast cars. His solution? Build an electric sports car. Luckily, he's got wads of cash (and previous connections with Lotus) to make this sort of dream come true and, according to a post on his zerocarbonista blog, construction is already under way.
An Exige, judging by the rendition on his blog (picture above), is probably the donor chassis for this project and is currently lying in pieces in Norfolk, presumably at the Lotus shop there. No word on whether the new hybrid and electric car group within Lotus Engineering is involved with the undertaking but it seems rather likely. Of course we are familiar with another existing electric sports car with some Lotus DNA that Vince could have put his name on a list for but the required waiting time is probably too long for a guy so committed to green he only drove about 3,000 miles last year. Of course, if those miles were traveled in the Mercedes which appears with him in his explanatory video (after the jump) than that would be like 100,000 Prius miles.
One of the things you'll hear critics of renewable energy often say is that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. But of course we know that isn't the case. If you go high enough from the earth's surface, the sun never stops shining and though no one has seen it, the wind is always blowing. We've talked about beaming the solar energy to earth before and we have even shown you this particular wind-powered energy producer before. At the time, some commented it would never fly but the maker of the Magenn Air Rotor System (MARS) has survived long enough to see it happen.
The blimp, technically called an aerostat, recently underwent its initial inflation trials at the facilities of premiere airship builder, TCOM, and was then taken to Virginia to be demonstrated for the CIA a customer. Magenn believes their balloon will be perfect for remote electricity generation at a competitive price and have plans to sail their device at four different locations in the next year.
Altairnano has had the spot light thrown on it recently as a result of an agreement between Electrovaya and Altairnano partner, Phoenix Motorcars. It is in this environment of speculation that they released their 2008 1st quarter earnings report. In a continuance of recent performance, they reported a slightly reduced revenue of $1.07 million and moderately increased expenditures. Net loss for the quarter was $8.29 million. So that's not so good, right?
While it definitely wasn't an outstanding financial performance, interim president Terry Copeland sounded relatively upbeat during the conference call with investors that broke the numbers to them. Now stored on their website, the call began with talk of one of Altairnano's brighter prospects, their deal with AES and the near completion of, so far, very successful testing. He stated the 2 megawatt battery system could move power around at a 4C rate or about 250kwh in 15 minutes. That certainly sounds impressive. In fact, throughout the talk, which also touched on the Phoenix Motorcars relationship, Copeland stressed the superior ability of their battery's power density as well as their extreme temperature tolerance. In an attempt to calm fears on the financial front he discussed their near-term goal of reducing the cash burn rate.
So what of the future? Perhaps not too bad if the AES relationship begins to bear some significant sales fruit. Their Navy contract also holds good earning potential. Mentioned briefly during questioning from investors was news of possible HEV applications, including a bus. You can listen to the conference call by clicking here and read the complete Q1 report for yourself after the jump.
If $120+ per barrel of black gooey stuff of puts you in a bad mood, you might not want to read this. According to energy strategist Argun Murti of Goldman Sachs, "Surging demand was increasingly likely to create a 'super-spike' past $200 in six months to two years' time." Yikes! Ethel, get in the ark! No, first help me with this pair of aardvarks!
While a high price for oil might bode well for the environment if it translates into less of the stuff being burned just to move us around, that large a gain in as little as 6 months could really put an economic hurtin' on people the world over. I probably don't need to remind everyone that the cost of, well, everything is pretty much tied in some way to the price of fuel. Of course, we did bring up the possibility before a couple months ago and even OPEC has mentioned it but with the time frame potentially being so incredibly compressed, it's a little worrisome. The rise is being blamed on a slow speed of growth of supply coupled with increased usage in countries like China and India. Maybe it's time to dust off that bicycle. Thanks to Aviv for the tip.
Recently we broke a story about a new electric "highway capable" three-wheeled car being prepared for the American market called the Triac. We promised to keep you posted and now that some interesting new details have emerged, behold the posting.
Apparently, many of you out there contacted Green Vehicles to seek out more information about the Triac for yourselves. It seems they might have been a little overwhelmed and it took a few days before a response was sent out en masse. The missive contained lots of interesting information which I will now share with you.
First of all, there were a couple of items from the video that were corrected. In the clip it states that the top speed of the vehicle is 70 mph. This is wrong. Green Vehicles is claiming that it can actually reach 80 mph. That's a speed that can come in handy when you're passing on the highway. The other metric to undergo revision was the range. This was lowered from 120 to 100 miles with the further explanation that the original figure was achieved at a relatively slow speed and that the new result was returned from a speed of 45 mph. Other Triac facts we learned were about the drivetrain. It will have a 5-speed transmission (we're guessing manual) matched to a 20kW AC motor with "one of the world's most sophisticated battery maintenance systems" to help you get the most out of your lithium ion battery pack. It's onboard charger will allow you to plug it in to either a 120V or 240V outlet. Now, what was that about a truck? Hit the jump for more news.
It has been a while but there is finally news of the Pininfarina / Bolloré electric car project. First the good news. According to Channel 4 it will be sold in America as well as Europe and Japan. The bad news? There is no bad news, only more juicy tidbits like; the concept will debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and once we get our heads around that, the production model reveal is scheduled for the Geneva Auto Show in the Spring. Like that? There's more! The supermini with Pininfarina badging (not pictured above) should seat four and cost in the neighborhood of €15,000. That's $23,295.75 in American greenbacks at today's exchange rate.
Although it will be powered by the Bolloré battery from France it will be innately Italian with the Pininfarina-designed coachwork sculpting being performed at its San Giorgio factory. That facility is now used to build the Spider and Brera for Alfa Romeo but that production work will be moved to its Bairo facility. There is a promise from Pininfarina that it will get 155 miles to a charge and although it will take five hours to completely fill it up from empty, a five-minute quickie will get you 15 miles down the road. We look forward to hearing more and are dusting off our Italian. Bene.
In an interesting twist to the saga that is the development of the Phoenix Motorcars electric SUT & SUV program comes news that they are now partnering with a Canadian battery maker. In a press release from that company, Electrovaya says that they are now negotiating an arrangement with Phoenix and have already begun the work of integrating their proprietary Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® battery along with its intelligent battery management system ("iBMS").
Phoenix Motorcars President and CEO, Daniel J. Elliot is quoted by the release as saying, "We are pleased to have Electrovaya join forces with us, and we are excited to be working with their team and their advanced technologies. Electrovaya's innovative Lithium Ion SuperPolymer® battery technology stands apart from its peers as a platform, chemistry agnostic technology. Electrovaya's systems expertise and design experience provide what we need in terms of battery performance." Hmm. That strikes us as possibly being in conflict with a statement made by the CEO a couple months ago in a different press release which can still be found on the Phoenix Motorcars website. And we quote, "We wholeheartedly support Altairnano's technology and believe they provide the greatest product available on the market today." Altairnano being the company that has been trumpeted as the supplier of their battery of choice for some time now, we wonder if a similar fate has befallen them as has their original motor supplier, UQM. Or perhaps Phoenix plans on utilizing the power packs from both companies. We shall try to get the straight dope and let your enquiring minds know but in the mean time go ahead and read the available details in the press release after the break.
There aren't too many 4WD electric jeep look-a-likes on the market and so when we first told you about the Scarlette there were some obvious questions that would eventually need to be addressed. Would they be on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Jeep? Would anyone even buy it? Why would someone call this Jeep-looking thing the Tender Scarlette? Well, so far as we know, the lawyers at Chrysler haven't sunk their fangs into the small French EV-maker yet, though looking at the losses that company is racking up, one might assume they are getting a little peckish. Sales have begun, according to the company's gros fromage (big cheese), Gérard Christaud, the Scarlette is a "go" with 30 vehicles sold and orders on hand for 350 more. Some of these tasty EV morsels have even crossed the Atlantic.
There have been some delays, as is commonwithnewventures though the blame here is being placed gently at the feet of suppliers rather than with their own high-tech assembly plant in the Rhone-Alpes. They had better pick up the pace soon because they have just inked a distribution deal with FESA (an association of automotive professionals) and will have a production goal of 1,000 a month. As to why they call it the "Scarlette," we can only answer, somewhat predictably, that frankly, we don't give a damn.
Today is Children's Day in Japan and that means it's also the day of the annual electric vehicle (EV) races at Tsukuba circuit. Sponsered by the Japan EV club with coordination from Daihatsu Motor Co. (maker of really cool little cars we can't buy in America), the event will feature 30-minute endurance races and 20-lap sprint races with EVs of all stripes including slick open-wheeled racers (like the one pictured above from last year's event). The ever popular electric racing kart (ERK) gymkhana will also be featured.
The day begins with at 7 AM with a vehicle inspection and will end after the "commendation ceremony" at three in the afternoon and admission is free. Happy Children's Day!
We recently told you that Audi has no electric car plans for the immediate future. We were right. Those plans seem to be some years away according to the CEO of Audi, Rupert Stadler. In an interview published yesterday by Welt am Sonntag, Stadler stated that diesel would hold the interest of the market for the next 5-10 years, but in that time electrics would become more generally accepted and Audi would then offer emission-free cars. Reminded that Mercedes and BMW already have high performance lithium ion batteries, the Audi boss was asked if he wasn't worried about lagging behind. Stadler seemed to shrug off the suggestion saying he wasn't concerned because their research capacity was larger than many of his competitors.
Earlier in the interview, at the end of a discussion about the merits of dieselsversushybrids, the CEO had this to say about hybrids, "Außerdem sehen wir den Hybrid langfristig lediglich als Durchgangsstation zum vollelektrischen Fahren." Which, according to the Babelfish (slightly cleaned up), translates as "In addition, we see the hybrid on a long-term basis only as stepping stone to all-electric driving." The bottom line here seems to be: more diesels for the immediate future with electric vehicles coming into play a few years down the road, by which time the 2006 R-Zero electric concept design (pictured above) will seem quaint.
Aptera chief Steve Fambro, in his company's latest newsletter, tells us they are building "lots of cars". Hooray! And then crushing them. Oh noes! We know this has been done to electric cars by the likes of GM and Toyota before and now Aptera admits it has joined the pulverizing parade. Have they gone to the dark side? Well, no. It's all being done in the name of increasing safety. You see, despite not having to crash test their three-wheeled Typ-1 (because it is defined as a motorcycle by the only state - California - they have immediate plans to sell them in), they are attempting to make the doors and roof of their vehicle much stronger than what is required of a typical car. As Fambro states, "We want the Typ-I to be renowned not only for its remarkable performance and efficiency, but its safety too."
Besides addressing their safety ethos, the newsletter also contains a mini-bio of three of their employees as well as word of their most recent hire, Neil Hanneman. Links to press articles and their latest video are there, as are plans for future hires. If you're looking for a cool job or want to know all the Aptera development details click on the "read" link below.
Now that the city of London has voted out "red Ken" in favor of Conservative candidate Boris Johnson, it is expected that the congestion charge scheme may undergo some changes. One electric car company, NICE (No Internal Combustion Engine), is showing no fear and is sounding positive about the future with their new mayor. They are even predicting increased business in the coming year. Julian Wilford, co-founder of the London-based company, states, "We know that Boris recognises the many benefits of owning an electric car," in a press release that extends an invitation to the politician to give their shop a visit as well as discuss their upcoming plans. Perhaps they read his "colorful" opinion piece in the Telegraph in defense of that other London-centric electric car, the G-Wiz.
And what of those future plans? They plan on adding yet more models to their already-varied vehicle line-up which includes the Vectrix and Mega Multi Truck. For more a more detailed look into the future hit the jump for the press release.
Tesla Motors opened its first retail store the other day and held a party to celebrate the event. Of course we all couldn't attend but thanks to 21st century technology, videos were taken on cell phones and streamed live across the internets for all to see via Qik. In fact, they are still on the internets and we have some after the break. Jason Calacanis of Weblogs fame shot the first featured moving pictures while Jeff Macpherson from Tiki Bar TV shot some clips as well. So go ahead and have some hors d'oeuvres and a cocktail whilst you mingle with the rich and famous and check out some Tesla roadsters. Hear music legend Quincy Jones play the Tesla horn. Watch Elon Musk talk to the camera of Chris Paine about grilled cheese sandwiches. Why are you still here? Go watch!
One of the things you'll hear critics of renewable energy often say is that the sun doesn't always shine and the wind doesn't always blow. But of course we know that isn't the case. If you go high enough from the earth's surface, the sun never stops shining and though 
If $120+ per barrel of black gooey stuff of puts you in a bad mood, you might not want to read this. According to energy strategist Argun Murti of Goldman Sachs, "Surging demand was increasingly likely to create a 'super-spike' past $200 in six months to two years' time." Yikes! Ethel, get in the ark! No, first help me with this pair of aardvarks! 
_thumbnail.jpg "Beijing 2008: BYD e6")
