Project Better Place has been making lots of headlines with their plan to create a battery swapping and charging infrastructure in different countries. At the recently held Alternative Fuels and Vehicles conference, a panel of representatives from some American electric car makers suggested they would prefer to see a slightly different scenario for the U.S. market. Nay to the whole battery swapping thing, yea to fast-charging stations.

Here are some quotes from the participants as reported by Jennifer Kho of greentechmedia:

• Bryon Bliss of Phoenix Motorcars: "With the ability to do rapid charge, we see that playing more of a role than stations to exchange them." "There are a lot of complications [in exchanging the batteries]."

• Richard Kasper of Chrysler's Global Electric Motorcars said the investment that battery-replacement stations would require would be "very significant."

• Jeff Boyd of Miles Electric Vehicles: "Fast charging is here; it's available. You can put a station at a Starbucks for a cost of $125,000. There's no reason to wait [for something else]."

During the question and answer session after the panel, Dean Taylor, a senior technical scientist at Southern California Edison, brought up a point often raised in debating fast-charging. Specifically, that daytime charging by drivers would add to peak demand as well as put strain on the grid. That was countered by Bryon Bliss who stated that charging stations could pull the electricity from batteries, like those made by Altairnano, which could also be a boon to utilities by helping them with grid stabilization. Click the "read" link to learn more of this interesting discussion. [NOTE: AutoblogGreen's Sebastian Blanco moderated the AFVI panel]

[Source: Greentechmedia]

click to enlarge

This week, at the AFVI Expo, I moderated a panel on the roll-out of electric vehicle products from Miles EV, Phoenix Motorcars and GEM. The representatives were Bryon Bliss, vice president of sales and marketing for Phoenix, Jeff Boyd, COO of Miles, and Richard Kaspar, GEM's president and COO. Oh, and our friend Ed Begley, Jr. was there as well, continuing his relationship with Phoenix.

The purpose of the panel was for each company to present their case not only for EVs but for their particular products. Since these companies all offer vehicles with quite different capabilities and styles, they're not really competitors, and it was a congenial event. Since I expect our readers to be pretty familiar with the vehicle line-ups of these three companies, I won't go into details about them. There were a few things said during the 90 minutes that caught my ear, though, that I think you'll want to hear about.

• The Miles EV offices are in Santa Monica, CA. To commute to work, Boyd drives a prototype of the XS500, Miles' upcoming highway-speed battery-powered sedan. The price target is still $35,000 and deliveries should start in the third quarter of 2009. The sedan will be followed by an electric SUV. I told Boyd that the next time I'm in town, I'll be knocking on the office door, begging for a ride. I mean, it worked for the Roadster.
• Phoenix expects deliveries of its all-electric SUT to start at the end of June (yes, in six weeks). Certification should be finished June 1, Bliss said and the company has orders for 600 vehicles to fill as of today.
• GEM's big news is the addition of new options to the back cargo space of its work trucks. Since GEM vehicles have been selling for over a decade, GEM has had plenty of time to listen to customers and find out what they want/need. New covers and door types are now available, and you can see a list of GEM vehicle options here.

Greentech media was also in the room, and wrote up this account of what happened. Both Miles and GEM had vehicles on the show floor, and I've included galleries of their displays below. The Phoenix photos are from the 2007 AFVI Expo. For those of you keeping score, Zap and Dynasty were nowhere to be found at the Expo this year (unlike last year).

Last fall, Miles Electric Vehicles and No Gas Required launched a contest for college students to create videos extolling the virtues of alternative fuel vehicles. The winners of the contest would receive a $1,000 scholarship for themselves and their school would receive a Miles ZX40S neighborhood electric vehicle to use. Architecture student Jagjeet Singh Chahal of Ball State University was picked as the winner. On Earth Day (today), Singh will receive his scholarship and Sue Weller, Ball State Director of Facilities Bus Services/Transportation will take possession of the ZX40 for the school. The Ball State fleet already consists of hybrid, E85 and biodiesel vehicles as well as six electric buses. You can check out the winning video after the jump.

Miles Electric Vehicles has a new CEO. Formerly a senior executive at
companies like Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Bertelsmann AG, Kevin Czinger took over the President and CEO position last Thursday. Tech Confidential says that former CEO Jeff Boyd will take over the COO spot, "where he will focus on day-to-day operations and leave business development and funding to Czinger." Miles EV founder Miles Rubin said in a statement that he was "delighted" to have Czinger on his team. We'd be delighted with some more updates about the status of the all-electric XS500 sedan, but we'll take this as an apparent bit of good news, as Tech Confidential wonders if "Czinger's arrival may indicate upcoming funding for Miles."

[Source: Tech Confidential]

It's been a month since we last wrote about Miles Automotive. Most of our recent coverage of the electric car company has revolved around the sounds-too-good-too-be-true XS500, a highway speed all-electric sedan that is - supposedly - about a year away. Now we have something new from Miles to write about. The 2008 Production Model MILES ZX40ST Work Truck, which was introduced today at the Green California Summit in Sacramento.

The ZX40ST (boy, that rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?) is a low speed electric vehicle (25 mph top speed) that uses six lead acid batteries (rated for 25,000 miles) and a brushless AC motor to go 50-60 miles per charge. It takes 4-6 hours to charge from 50 percent to full from a standard home outlet (so, I'll assume it takes about double that to charge from near empty?). Watch out, pedestrians, as this little guy can scoot from 0-20 mph in five seconds. These may not be spectacular numbers, but for what a vehicle like this is supposed to do, I'd say they're quite sufficient. Miles has announced that it is making 200 ZX40STs a month and is sold out through June. The truck costs $18,400.
The truck will be on display at the Sacramento Convention Center through tomorrow. See more after the break.

In an interview by Industry Standard, Miles Automotive CEO Jeff Boyd said the all-electric X500 is "a little over a year" from release. Industry Standard asked what Boyd thought about competition from plug-in hybrids and he replied that he was not aware of any plug-in close to production. Boyd then added that, "We're a little over a year away, so we think we're maybe two or three years ahead of most plug-in hybrid vehicles." Someone should tell Boyd about the Saturn PHEV is scheduled for a release in 2010 late 2009. Miles Automotive has a variety of models in mind like a XS500-based crossover. Electric cars are no longer a fad, Boyd said, but a revolution.


[Source: Industry Standard]

The team at Miles Automotive has just taken a big step toward making their XS500 electric sedan a reality thanks to $15 million in new funding. Los Angeles-based Angeleno Group led the latest funding round for Miles. The XS500 is a highway-speed-capable battery electric sedan that Miles is developing for production in China and sales in the U.S. and Europe. Recently, Miles has been doing a lot of re-engineeriffng of the XS500 which has led to some questions as to whether they can actually deliver a car with the specifications that they have quoted at a $30,000-35,000 price point. Considering that no one else has yet managed to build a car like this, the XS500 could be quite an achievement.

[Source: GreenCarAdvisor]

In spite of all the attention that Tesla has drawn in the electric vehicle space over the last two years, few of us will ever be able to afford a Roadster or the WhiteStar. One ray of hope that many have been able to hang onto for an affordable all speed electric car was the XS500 from Miles Automotive (previously known as the Javlon). Unfortunately it starting to look like that car won't be much more affordable than a WhiteStar. Ever since Miles announced their intention to offer the XS500 they have been quoting a price of about $30,000 for the electric sedan that has the capability of traveling at highway speeds.

Miles has been working with the manufacturer to upgrade the power-train with items like an AC motor and lithium ion batteries. Also unlike Tesla they are not requesting a waiver on the advanced airbag regulation. All that stuff requires a lot of engineering which doesn't come cheap. According to Martijn Noordam at AllGreenVehicles, the European distributor for Miles, the XS500 should appear in early 2009 and the price will be approximately €40,000. At today's exchange rate that comes to about $58,750. That's not exactly mainstream affordable.

Update: After some communications with Miles Automotive Marketing Mgr, Kara Saltness, the situation is marginally less cloudy. According to Saltness the company is still targeting a US price of $30-35,000. However, work remains to be done on the car and in her words, "Due to the complexities of the development process, we cannot yet determine the exact price for the XS500 at launch in the U.S. market." So the price may be higher or it might not. The only thing we know for sure is that we don't know, although if I were a betting man, I'd say it will likely be adjusted upwards. As for the European price, my initial communications with Martijn Noordam implied the target price in Europe was the same $30-35,000 and it had risen from there to €40,000. I'll chalk that one up to lost in translation.

[Source: MILES BENELUX B.V / ALLGREENVEHICLES]

I was browsing through the website for AllGreenVehicles, Miles Electric's new EU distributer and I found a new picture of Javlon, a highly-anticipated electric car. From the text on the building in the background, it appears to be in China, the last location I caught up with this slippery electric car. The URL in the lower right, tom.com, is also a popular Chinese web portal. I don't speak Chinese, so I don't know how I would find the source of that image at tom.com. Even more frustrating, the image was at the AllGreenVehicles's news page is in another language I don't understand.

The Miles Javlon, along with a hand-full of other vehicles, may be the first normal, looking, electric car available in the U.S. If you can translate AllGreenVehicles or navigate tom.com to find the source of the alluring image, please post anything you can find in comments or tell us directly. We would really appreciate it because news about the Javlon is hard to find.

[Source: Tom.com via AllGreenVehicles]

The Bellingham Herald has published the story of the first family who have purchased a Miles ZX40S and is already driving it on the road. The car, which is classified as a NEV (although the mother quietly said she's driven it to 41 mph, which is a bit confusing, since most NEVs have an electrically-limited top speed), is considered enough for the family uses: a maximum of 50 miles round trip on roads where the maximum speed is 40 mph.

The family chose the car because, despite the low maximum speed, it runs on an AC instead of DC, which improves performance and it's actually a "real car" that seats four, has four seatbelts and a steel body. They also intend the car to be used for carpooling. The car is actually getting a lot of notice from the Bellingham locals in this quiet Washington town.

Related:

• New York Mayor Bloomberg test drives Miles Automotive's Javlon in China
• Miles Automotive plugs in an all-new web site
• Miles Automotive giving five electric cars to colleges for video contest

[Source: Bellingham Herald (thanks to Rory for the tip)]

The video above shows New York mayor Bloomberg speaking in China and saying he will test drive Miles Automotive's Javlon electric car. Recently, we told you early versions of the car had rolled off the production line and the company was checking them out in China.

Below is a video about another highly-anticipated electric car, the Aptera, which Popular Mecahanics test drove recently. Recently, we told you about the video of the PM drive, which includes a good look at the inside of the car and a tour of the outside with a description of many interesting aspects to the Aptera. Now you can watch it for yourself.

Which electric car are you looking forward to most, the Aptera or the Javlon?

Related:

• Video interview: Miles Automotive on Javlon
• Aptera series hybrid will have 1,000-mile range
• Videos: Aptera launch, Nissan concepts, Smart hybrid

[Source: YouTube via Meta Efficient]

According to CNET, the first prototypes of Miles Automotive's Javlon have come off the production line in China and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg got a chance to test drive one of them. CNET also reports the prototypes will come to the states in a few months, the Javlon will cost $35,000 and come out early 2009. Here is Bloomberg talking about Javlon before taking the test drive:

After my remarks, I look forward to going outside and seeing some of the latest-model battery-powered all-electric cars that an American company-Miles Automotive Group-is developing in partnership with the Chinese Automotive Technical and Research Center or 'CAT-ARC,' the Chinese Electronic Technology Group Corporation, Lishen Battery Company, and the city of Tianjin.

I will be joined by the chair of Miles Automotive Group, Miles Rubin, and its chief operating officer, Kevin Kiley. As well as by their Chinese partners: Zhao Hang, director of CATARC; Wang Xi Wen, vice-superintendent of Chinese Electronic Technology Group Corporation; Qin Xing Cai, general manager of Lishen Battery; Liang Rui, deputy general manager at Lishen Battery; and Wu Zhi Qin, general manager of Tianjin Qingyuan Electric Vehicle Company.

Assembled here in China, the cars they are making can be marketed to drivers in both our nations, and in South America and the European Union, too. The result is a marriage of U.S. and Chinese technology that is taking us forward-toward 100 percent electric-powered vehicles that drastically reduce air pollutants, cut carbon emissions, and are less expensive to operate.

Mayors have all the fun.

Related:

• AutoblogGreen videos: Tesla Motors and Miles Automotive at Green the Capitol Office Expo
• Video interview: Miles Automotive on Javlon
• Miles Automotive plugs in an all-new web site
• AFVI Show: Tell me, is the Miles Javlon $30,000 all-electric sedan for real?
• Miles Rubin, eternal optimist, interviewed on NPR
• Miles Automotive appoints initial dealer network

[Source: CNET]

Readers who click through all of the links that we offer you in a day might remember Ron Gompertz, the owner of Eco Auto, Inc. He was mentioned in an article on MSNBC about eco-car dealers in the U.S. Lynne Mason over at Electric Cars Are For Girls has gotten hold of Gompertz for a lengthy Q&A on what it's like to sell EVs and other green cars in Bozeman, Montana. Gompertz sells ZENN, Miles, Evader scooters, SNUGG electric bicycles, and Smart cars, and will ship them to you no matter where you live in America. How does he feel about the two NEV makers on his list? Gompertz told Mason that, "For electric cars, we chose the Zenn and the Miles. They're both excellent quality electric cars that you can plug in like a cell phone, and both easily adaptable to Montana's 35mph NEV speed limit."

Read the whole thing over at the girly EV site.

Related:

• More and more eco-thoughtful car dealerships coming to America

[Source: Electric Cars Are For Girls]

Back in October, we wrote about Miles Automotive's new partnership with the environmental web site No Gas Required that would take the form of a video competition for college and university students. Entrants were asked to make a video on the "no gas required" theme to try and win a Miles electric car for their school to use. As of this writing, there are eleven videos up on the Miles Revolution YouTube page, and the five videos from this batch (or others, if more are forthcoming) that are viewed the most times will win a $1,000 scholarship and the cars.

I'll admit that I haven't watched all of these videos (yet). I selected the video to add to this post based on length, so don't take this as any sort of endorsement. The video above is simply the longest one. If you do check all the videos out and have a fave, let us know.

[Source: YouTube, h/t to Domenick]

If you're in the market for an electric vehicle and you want to check out specs and see what's available, Miles Automotive has launched an all new site. The new virtual showroom has pics and specs on their current lineup of low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles and their upcoming XS500 full-speed sedan. The XS500 will be a Chinese-built, battery-powered, five-passenger sedan that is supposed to sell for an affordable price. If their manufacturing partner can do a better job of meeting US safety standards than most other Chinese companies have done, this could be an important entrant in the market. If not, what you're looking at here is just more vapor.

[Source: Miles Automotive, thanks to Andrew for the tip]