Anyone living near Phoenix, Arizona would be able to tell you that there's a reason the area is nicknamed "The Valley of the Sun." It may be mildly oppressive from time to time (or just about all summer, depending on your point of view), but the sun is also a valuable natural resource that gives off more than enough energy to power our various transportation needs.

A Phoenix-area man by the name of Richard Gryzch decided to tap into that natural resource to power an electric motorcycle he calls the Solar Flyer. Details are decidedly scarce, but Gryzch claims his bike can top 90 miles per hour and has a range of 50 miles. Naturally, we'd assume that there are some batteries hidden away under the Derbi's red plastic bodywork, which appears to be coated with flexible solar panels wherever a bit of room is available.

In reality, it's likely that it would take a very long time to completely recharge those batteries solely with the solar panels on the bike's outer skin, but Gryzch has more ambitious plans in the works, saying he has a goal of reaching a 300-mile range in time. Click past the break for a video, and see another take on the concept of a solar-powered motorcycle, click here.

[Source: ABC 15 News]

Phoenix Motorcars has responded to our request for information about the bankruptcy filing news we heard about earlier this week.

This email is written in response to questions we have received from Autoblog Green relating to our recent restructuring.
Phoenix MC, Inc. is going through a restructure of which we plan to be very straight forward and short in nature. We have secured DIP financing and have a clear path in front of us.
We have not abandoned the alternative fuels transportation space.
We will have no further comments.
Sincerely,
Daniel J. Elliott
Chairman & CEO
Phoenix MC, Inc.

In other news, Earth2Tech notes that the bankruptcy hearing scheduled for today is meant to, literally, keep the lights on and that Phoenix's battery partner, Altairnano Technologies, had to write down the value of Phoenix's stock on its books in early March. Thoughts?


[Source: Phoenix]

Recently, ECOtality and Nissan announced the creation of an EV Micro-Climate Working Group in the Tucson, Arizona area. Nissan and ECOtality just announced they will expand their Arizona electric vehicle project to Phoenix. The Renault-Nissan Alliance will work with the Maricopa Association of Governments (and ECOtality, again) to promote an electric vehicle charging network with the goal to connect Phoenix and Tucson in an "EV charging corridor."

Nissan could use the charging stations pretty soon. Pure electric vehicles based on technology in the EV-02 prototype (above, a converted Cube) are coming in 2010. These vehicles will be able to go 100 miles per charge and won't cost that much more (or any more) than a standard vehicle, according to Nissan reps that spoke to Green Car Advisor. What will it look like? "It is a dedicated all-new car, not the conversion of something we already offer," the rep said to GCA. "You need something that is different enough to let people know you are driving a special car." Indeed.


[Source: Nissan, Green Car Advisor]

Last April, the SsangYong's future looked bright, with new diesel hybrid technology and a 20-vehicle global line-up trumpeted loudly. Things went downhill after that, with the company going into receivership (like Chapter 11 bankruptcy) and then the Sollers offer. On Friday, a court in South Korea (SsangYong is a South Korean company) granted the company "court receivership" status. This means the company now has time to restructure itself but also leads to a very confusing press release. As you can read after the break, the announcement says that the change means "business as usual for SsangYong" and also says that that the court's decition paves "the way for radical restructuring." Is it really radical to do business as usual? Whatever. What we're interested in is what this means for Phoenix and their all-electric SUT? We have a email in to Phoenix and will let you know if they have anything to add.


[Source: Koelliker UK Ltd]

When SsangYong went into receivership last week, the question we naturally had was "What happens to Phoenix Motorcars now?" We still don't know for sure, but we might not need that answer right away if reports in Automotive News Europe (subs req'd) are accurate. ANE says that the Russian carmaker Sollers is trying to purchase the rights to make SsangYong's SUVs. Phoenix uses the SsangYong Actyon SUV as a basis for making its all-electric SUV and SUT. Sollers already has a deal with SsangYong to make the Rexton II and Kyron sport utility vehicles in Russia. A statement from Sollers said this offer, "would allow Sollers to continue manufacturing SsangYong models in Russia completely independently of the Korean company."


[Source: Automotive News Europe (subs req'd)]

Just after SAIC provided some cash to keep Ssangyong operating a while longer, the company's board decided to go ahead and file for court receivership in South Korea. Under the rules there, the court has thirty days to decide if the company has what it takes to survive as a going concern. If the application is approved, a receiver will be appointed to run the company while it is restructured. If rejected, the company will likely be shutdown, because SAIC looks unlikely to continue throwing good money after bad.

Since Ssangyong has never exported its vehicles to the US market (an event which might have caused people to pine for the of more attractive vehicles around, like the Pontiac Aztec) this may not seem like it has any relevance here. However, Ssangyong is the source of the rolling chassis which were to be used for the Phoenix Motorcars SUT and SUV. We've been trying to contact Phoenix for a comment on the situation but company reps have not yet responded. We'll let you know if they do. In the meantime, if Ssangyong goes belly up, could be the coup de grace for Phoenix as well.


[Sources: MarketWatch, ChinaDaily]

Following yesterday's announcement that Phoenix Motorcars will work with the state of Hawaii to bring electric vehicles to Maui, we contacted Bryon Bliss, VP of sales and marketing for Phoenix, to get some more information. Bliss sent an email from Maui just after arriving and hosting another press conference there (do you think Phoenix just signed the deal to visit Hawai'i more often? I think maybe, but Bliss denies it).

Bliss said that the details of the deal are still being worked out, but that between 5 and 30 Phoenix SUTs will be used in Maui (probably between 5 and 10). Phoenix hasn't delivered any SUTs to customers yet, and the Maui fleet "will be prototype level vehicles with many final parts implemented." I also passed along reader Ug's question about the battery packs, and Bliss said that, "we are strongly considering the use of the Altairnano Lithium Titinate battery."

I also asked if the recent Better Place Hawai'i announcement was setting the two companies up for direct competition, and Bliss' response was that, because the vehicle charging connectors will be the same, "We feel we can work together or in parallel with Better Place to bring solutions today to markets such as Hawaii."

You can read Bliss' full email after the jump.

Curious about what Phoenix Motorcars has been up to? Taking trips to Hawai'i, apparently. The California company behind the all-electric Phoenix SUT (above) and SUV has announced it will bring electric vehicles to Maui by next year. What's interesting is that the Hawai'i-Phoenix joint press release also talks about Phoenix building "an electric vehicle infrastructure" there. In the statement, Gov. Lingle said that this project, part of the Hawai'i Clean Energy Initiative will "capitalize on Hawai'i's abundant natural renewable energy resources."

Details? Well, they're few and far between at this point, but Phoenix has apparently "signed a memorandum of understanding with Maui Electric for a test program using Phoenix Motorcars' electric pick-up trucks in the utility fleet." The first EVs should arrive in the first quarter of 2009. You can read the full press release after the jump.

This is Lingle's second big electric vehicle announcement this month. Last week, Better Place said it would put 50-100,000 charging stations in the islands by 2012. I knew Hawaii was the EV place to be.

UPDATE: More information from Phoenix on this deal here.


[Source: Phoenix Motorcars, State of Hawaii]

One of the many problems with Chrysler's product lineup is the aging powertrains. The six cylinder engines in particular are in desperate need of revamp, a project that the company announced it was working on in early 2007. Unfortunately, last week it appeared that amid all the financial market turmoil and discussions of a merger with GM the program had been killed. This week, Chrysler President Jim Press denied those reports and claimed that the Phoenix engine program was still very much in progress. The Phoenix engines are expected to be a thoroughly modern design with variable valve timing and direct fuel injection. The new engines should be significantly more fuel efficient and refined than Chrysler's current engines, but the program was expected to cost $3 billion including two new engine plants to build them for the 2010 model year. If a deal does happen, it seems likely that the engine program may yet be canceled.

[Source: Reuters]

Click above image to enlarge

Blogger extraordinaire Mickey Kaus recently spied the above SUV innocuously parked in Santa Monica and sent us the photos, wondering if we had any clue what it is. As luck would have it, we do. The truck is a SsangYong Actyon SUV, but it's also more than that. You see the Actyon, in both SUT and SUV body styles, is the basis for Phoenix Motorcars' electric SUT and SUV, which are scheduled to arrive in the U.S. in 2010. The white example Mickey snagged had been de-badged, which lends it an air of mystery, but we know SsangYong's not coming to the U.S. market.

As our esteemed colleague Sam Abuelsamid points out, Phoenix is based in Ontario, CA so it's basically a lock that this is one of their EV development mules. Using the SsangYong trucks as the basis for their electric utility vehicles has two distinct benefits for Phoenix. First, they offer proven, practical and usable packaging that'll work fine in the real world. Second, their front-end styling is bizarre enough that the unwritten rule which states that EVs have to look weird will surely be upheld. Obviously, those Tesla guys, with their sexy-spiffy Roadster, didn't get that memo.

You can check Mickey out every day at Kausfiles, and, on occassion, at Bloggingheads.tv as well. Thanks for the photos!

[Source: Mickey Kaus]