As I was cleaning out my digital files and getting ready for the Detroit Auto Show that starts for us media folks this weekend, I noticed I have a few EVS23 items left to process and post. I'll try to the them all up before NAIAS overwhelms us, but the one I have for you now is an interview I did with EDTA head Brian Wynne just as the show was ending. Wynne was quite pleased with the giant electric drive conference and expo, something you can hear for yourself here (9 min, 6MB). We were interrupted briefly during out talk, and you'll notice where it is on the recording by the way it jumps at one point.

You can also get an idea of what Wynne thought about the symposium by what he said in an email following the end of the event:

The success associated with EVS-23 was also unprecedented. More than 1,500 electric drive experts from around the world came together to share the latest information regarding technology and market developments. An additional 700 visitors joined us for public day to view 125 exhibits on the show floor and hear from local mayors, as well as from a forum of leading authors on energy policy.

With more than 37 countries represented, EVS-23 was truly global in its scope. Media coverage was extensive, with more than 90 accredited media working the show. If you were not able to attend, but would like to get a sense of the high-voltage energy that was in the air, please check out our wrap-up video, which was shot at the event.

All in all, let's just say that everyone's looking forward to EVS24, which will be in Norway in 2009.

Note: The picture above shows a plastic cup that was part of the breakfast tablesettings. I thought it was a nice touch.

We're back for AutoblogGreen Podcast #16. In this installment, Sebastian updates us on some of the really amazing things he saw while at EVS23 in Anaheim. Speaking of really cool stuff, our interview this time is with Beau Boeckmann of Galpin Autosports. Sebastian and Beau talk in depth about the crazyawesomelywild hybrid F450 that was done up for Pimp My Ride, while Sam got to see the Chevy Volt showing a little leg on a recent tour of the E-Flex design studio. We take some time to discuss the Volt and E-Flex in depth, touching on some of the discoveries that have been made as the platform gets developed, as well as how far along the E-Flex is, which is surprising. We're looking ahead to NAIAS in Detroit in a few weeks, for now, enjoy this installment, clocking in at 43 minutes.

UPDATE: Read the transcript and view a picture of Beau's truck here.

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Covering a conference like EVS23 can be a bit draining. There is so much to try and capture and post on that by the end of the event, I'm looking forwards to falling asleep in my cramped airplane seat on the way home. The last day of EVS23, though, brought with it a special treat: a chance to test out the Brammo Enertia all-electric motorcycle (see video above). With shadows still long on the parking lot pavement, Brammo's lead engineer, Aaron Bland, guided me through the bike's capabilities and gave me some riding tips. Ever since I crashed a Vespa back in high school, I have trepidations on any two-wheeled device that's not a bicycle, but this thing felt good. Not to spoil the surprise, but I'll admit right at the start that if I were to ever buy a motorcycle, the Enertia would be a serious contender for my wallet's contents.

Anyway, back to the ride. Aaron drove around the parking lot a few times. Of all the people at Brammo (and, indeed, the planet), he said, he's the guy who has put the most miles on the Enertia bikes, which, as you can guess, means he hates his job. Once I filmed a few scenes of the bike in action, it was my own turn at the handlebars.

Aaron warned me that the bike might jump at the start, because its throttle map is one of the key sticking points that needs to be resolved before the production model is unleashed on the world sometime next year. Even with his warning, and me moving my hand ever so slightly, the bike did hop a bit as I started. It wasn't uncomfortable or scary, just a "hup!", and then I was on my way.

More, much more, after the jump.

Driving the soon-to-be-released Chevy Malibu around the Anaheim Convention Center wasn't earth-shattering. Then again, I don't think that earth-shattering is what GM has in mind with this mild hybrid. For one thing, this car won't be all that widely available when it goes on sale for around $22,000 in mid-January. For another, aside from some green badging and an "eco" light on the dashboard, there's not much that will tell you this Malibu is any greener than any other on the road today. If you're looking to an energy info screen a la the Prius or the new plug-in Ford Escape hybrid (which is sweet), you're out of luck.

What the Malibu hybrid does offer is a reasonable green alternative. It's a full-size sedan and the "eco" light (according to the GM representative who I rode along with on the test drive - sorry I forgot her name) does affect how people drive; they try to drive so the light goes on. This isn't all that hard when you're slowing down. The belt-alternator-starter mild hybrid system and nickel metal hydride battery add around $1,800 to the price of the car while offering a slight increase in MPG. As we've said before, the standard version gets 22/30 city/highway mpg while the hybrid does a bit better at 24/32. Is it worth it? If you were inclined to purchase a Malibu in the first place, my vote is "yes," but this isn't a must have by any means.


Related:

• Autoblog first impression of the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu (and hybrid version)

The all-electric Shelby Cobra 427 we were just introduced to by Michael Kadie was not the only ridiculously awesome EV available for pictures at the EVS23 showroom floor. At the end of the video about the Cobra, we moved over to a bright red electric Mustang. Here, now, is that video, with Edward Riggs Monfort describing what has been changed in the Mustang Ronaele 300e. Kadie worked on the 300e, too, but the car is really more of Monfort's thing. And you can see the enthusiasm on his face as he tells AutoblogGreen about the ride (even though it was probably the 100th time he ran through the details during the symposium).

Ronale has been selling tuned gasoline Mustangs for the past two years and Monfort said the electric version will be ready for customers within the next few months. The 300e is the precursor to the 600e, a more powerful all-electric Mustang that will have more than 2,000 ft. lbs of torque. All that power will give the 600e the power to pull two horizontal Gs, Kadie says. The 300e's top speed is going to be around 150 mph, but the ratios can be changed to bump it to over 200. A full charge in the 300e will give you 100 miles (a dual battery pack will, unsurprisingly, double that). Solid.

So, how do you get one of these? Bring your own car and pay $80,000 for the EV conversion and the Ronaele styling package. The nice thing, Monfort says (and he's right) is that you'll be in a timeless machine. In 20 years, the style will still look good on the street, he said. We didn't talk about the shape the batteries will be in in two decades, but by then you will probably be able to pop on down to the corner store for a new pack, no? We can hope.

Related:

• EVS23: The baddest Shelby Cobra 427 around is all-electric (video)
• EVS23: Just try to catch these bad (EV) boys: all-electric Mustang and Shelby Cobra
• Alt Car Expo 2007: Electric car racing with Michael Kadie and 2.S.S.I.C. (VIDEO)

There are very official few plug-in Priuses currently cruising the world's streets. One of them was part of the Ride and Drive at EVS23, and there is no way we could pass up the chance to drive one. The trouble was, by the time it was our turn, the extra NiMH battery pack that provides up to seven miles of all-electric driving was plumb tuckered out and the car was operating in standard hybrid mode. So, driving this prototype around the block felt just like driving a normal Prius. Hopefully we'll soon get to test out a fully-charged PHEV Prius, but at least the car's shiny prism/rainbow exterior made us feel special at EVS23.

We also cornered Jaycie Chitwood, Toyota's senior strategic planner, advanced technologies group, after a long day on the EVS23 showroom floor and got the scoop on what Toyota is hoping to learn from the three PHEV Prius test sites (Japan, France and campuses of the University of California system). Chitwood says that UC Berkeley will focus on getting these vehicles into customer's hands while UC Irvine will be focusing on the environmental benefits that a plug-in system brings to reducing emissions. Japan and France, with their reliance on nuclear power for electricity, certainly have a different public mood for plug-in vehicles than what exists in the U.S., she says. Go ahead and hit play to find out more.

You can also learn more about what's inside the plug-in Priuses here.

Back at EVS23, Ford handed over the keys for a plug-in hybrid Escape to Southern California Edison. I've finally had time to edit together the video I shot that day, so watch it already. :)

In the first part of this video (above) we see the PHEV Escape arrive at the Anaheim Convention Center and the official handoff of the keys from Ford to SCE. As you can see, Nancy Gioia, Ford's director of sustainable mobility technologies and hybrid vehicle programs, doesn't answer a lot of questions about the vehicle's battery, but does say that the PHEV uses a 10 kWh battery. Ford's Susan Cischke, senior vice president, sustainability, environment and safety engineering, sat down with AutoblogGreen after the hand-over to talk about the car and the unique (as far as I know) input screen in the vehicle that lets the driver adjust the gasoline and electricity costs so that the cost per trip is accurately displayed during the drive. Very sweet.

Part two of this video will be posted is now available after the break once I finish editing it.

Right next to the Modec booth at EVS23, Smith Electric Vehicles commanded a swath of floor space with their large Smith Newton electric truck. Mark Aubry, North American sales manager for Smith Electric Vehicles, was available for an interview and told AutoblogGreen about how these trucks could work for American companies. The official launch of these EVs in the U.S. was two days before we spoke.

The Smith Newton is a 26,000 pound GVW truck, a class 7 truck, 16,000 payload. Smaller versions - class 5 or 6 - are also available. Depending on customer need, these trucks can be delivered with between two and six batteries (one battery doesn't have enough power to move the truck). Using four batteries, the truck can go 150 miles with a 50 mph top speed, while two batteries give you a 40-60 mile range and work best with light products (garments, for example). More batteries also reduce the payload capacity. Each battery pack costs $16,000. With four battery packs, a 2007 Smith Newton is $150,000 ($64,000 for the batteries, $86,000 for the truck). While that's a large amount, Aubry said operating costs are a low 11 cents a mile.

Smith Newtons use sodium nickel chloride (Zebra) batteries, the current battery of choice for heavy trucks. Aubry said that Smith is testing lithium ion batteries and expects to sell trucks with that option in the near future. The Zebra-laden trucks are available now, as is my interview with Aubry (7:30 min, 5 MB).

During the Electric Drive Vehicle Symposium (EVS23) held this past week in Anaheim CA, attendees got the first public glimpse at the first prototype battery pack for the Chevy Volt. GM's Jon Lauckner, VP for Global Program Management gave a presentation at the conference that Matt Kelly from NextGear captured on video. Most of the presentation was a repeat of the standard one GM executives have been giving for the past year on how much energy the world uses and how much that amount will increase over the next two decades as well as explaining the basic premise behind the E-Flex architecture. If you haven't seen the presentation before, it's worth watching. However, the last five minutes include the latest updates on the Volt development program. As we know the first prototype pack arrived at GM's labs about six weeks ago and a couple of Lauckner's slides show photos of the pack on the bench being tested. AutoblogGreen has spoken to Jon Lauckner on numerous occasions over the past year, such as the conversation we had the Management Briefing Seminar last August. You can watch the whole EVS23 presentation after the jump.

[Source: NextGear]

One of the benefits of an electric motor powering an ATV, says Ken Stasiek, the national sales manager of Electric Vehicle Systems (EVS), is that you can sneak up on wild game easier. That's a benefit to hunters. Police forces, too, can benefit from the silence because it allows for easier radio communication, even when driving. I spoke with Stasiek at EVS23 this past week, and he gave AutoblogGreen a rundown on his company's new ATEV 28 (All-Terrain Electric Vehicle). The vehicles were released just last week.

While there might be a lot of benefits to an electric ATV, the engineers were not able to offer all the goodies they had hoped for. The ATEV 28 has a 35 mph top speed and a maximum range of 25 miles on a flat surface. These numbers don't meet the goals the company had set for the ATV (42 mph top speed and a 30 mile range, numbers that are still advertised on the company's website), but there's still a lot to like about this battery-powered ATV.

Check out my video interview with Stasiek and see the ATEV in action after the break.

One of the announcements from EVS23 was from Ener1, the company behind the EnerDel lithium power systems. On the showroom floor, Ener1 was displaying a Prius they have converted with the EnerDel battery packs, a move that even attracted positve comments from Toyota representatives. I stopped by and spoke with Charles Gassenheimer, the chairman of Ener1 Inc., and he told me about how Ener1 is the only company at EVS23 that has the "end-to-end solution" for lithium-powered cars. That is, they can do the cell and chemistry design, the battery design and system integration.

You can hear what Charles has to say here (9 min, 6 MB). When you listen, you'll hear him mention the small size of the battery pack. This is what he's talking about. There is more information on some of the topics he mentions in these posts:

• Ener1 first to integrate lithium-ion battery into HEV
• Ener1 shuffles management in preparation of battery commercialization
• Everything you ever wanted to know about Ener1's batteries
• Ener1 and Th!nk sign the largest contract for lithium-ion batteries in automotive history

I first wrote a post about the all-electric T-Rex motorcycle/three-wheeler back in February. As we said earlier then, this vehicle can go around 125 mph and has high-end range of 250 miles (125 is the low end, which shows how much of an impact a driving style can have). These Canadian-built vehicles will cost around $50,000 CDN (almost $50,000 US). The T-Rex is actually the name of the non-electric version and the EV is called the Silence PT2. Still, there are two of these blue beauties on the showroom floor here at EVS23 and they carry the T-Rex name on them. We're not here to bicker and argue about who named what, just to look at some pretty pictures. I particularly like the way the side mirrors and the headlights are two sides of the same thing.

UPDATE: corrected the USD number thanks to a new exchange rate

EVS23, the 23rd major symposium on Electric Vehicles organized by the Electric Drive Transportation Association (EDTA) and the World Electric Vehicle Association (WEVA), began Monday morning in Anaheim, California with a series of addresses that set the stage for what will happen here over the next three days.
It is true that there were a series of press conferences on Sunday (and the public ride and drive), but the less said about me traveling out of the Midwest in some nasty, nasty weather, the better. All I'll say is that you all can blame icy roads and a lame taxi company for a lack of EVS23 updates from Sunday.

Anyway, opening remarks for EVS23 were delivered by Rick Kasper, the president and CEO of GEM. He introduced professor C.C. Chan from the University of Hong Kong (and the president of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Asia Pacific (EVAAP) and Robert Stüssi, the president of the European Association for Battery, Hybrid and Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles. I'm not sure how the welcome speakers were selected, but I don't think that it was an accident that Asia, Europe and the US were all represented. The electric vehicle market, which, for the EDTA and WEVA includes hydrogen, hybrids and pure-electrics, is a global one. Fitting for a global problem.

(continue after the jump for more on the EDTA opening session, including audio files)

In October, we noticed a Prius in an Ener1 video and predicted Ener1 was working on a plug-in Prius. Later, we read in SEC files that Ener1 would show a demonstration car in December and questioned if the Prius was that car. Turns out we were right, almost. That car in the video did use Ener1's batteries but it was not a plug-in and there is a difference.

Ener1 released a press release today that said they were the first to integrate a lithium-ion battery into a HEV (hybrid electric vehicle). The first? What about all those PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles)? Aren't they just HEVs with a plug? I contacted Ener1 and they schooled me on the differences. Jerry Herlihy, Ener1's Chief Financial Officer, explained:

The battery for HEV is very different than PHEV. It requires power rather than energy density; it requires a large number of cycles; it needs to be safe; it requires a high C rate (time to charge and discharge); it needs to cold crank; it needs to operate in low temperatures, etc. And it has to be affordable.

And Ener1 will be affordable. According to the press release, a video tape of the test drive of the Prius will be made available to the press and the video will be at the Ener1 website soon. Third party testing of the batteries' performance in the Prius will be released the first quarter of 2008. The Ener1 battery gives twice as much power to the Prius electric motor and the increase in performance is expected to be substantial. Ener1 will also give a presentation to registered participants at EVS-23 today. AutoblogGreen's Sebastian is at EVW23, so stay tuned for reports directly from the show floor.

Related:

• Ener1 shuffles management in preparation of battery commercialization
• Ener1 and Th!nk sign the largest contract for lithium-ion batteries in automotive history
• EnerDel plans to sell affordable, lithium-ion battery in 2 years
• Video: Enerdel working on a plug-in Prius?
• Everything you ever wanted to know about Ener1's batteries

[Source: Ener1 press release]

Ford announced that a Ford Escape plug-in hybrid, able to reach 120 mpg (yes, that's what they say) has already been delivered to utility company California South Edison as "part of unique partnership to advance commercialization of PHEVs." It's the first of a series of 20 vehicles which will conduct a long-term road test.

The Escape batteries can be charged using common household current (120 V in the US) and it takes from 6 to 8 hours. The full charge can power the vehicle up to 30 miles. Once that initial charge is finished, the vehicle works as a standard hybrid, recharging batteries when possible. The battery pack is made from lithium ion high-voltage batteries, from which the press release says "the cost of advanced lithium ion batteries means the technology is currently not economically feasible for widespread vehicle application."

(Note from Sebastian: the actual ceremony to hand over the PHEV Escape is going to happen in about 15 minutes here at EVS23, and I'm on my way there)

[Source: Ford]