It could be the quickest vehicles to go from concept to a public, drivable prototype in automotive history. As previewed, "Israelis got a first demonstration Sunday of the electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in the country and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world," began the report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
A parking lot in Tel Aviv hosted the demonstration of the Project Better Place/Renault collaboration. Acceleration was said to be impressive and the silent drive familiar to proponents of electric vehicles was noted in the silver, normal looking sedan. The car is expected to have a range of 125 miles, more than sufficient for most drivers in a nation that's no more than 60 miles wide and 260 long. Haaretz reports that several hundred cars will begin appearing on Israel roads in 2009, with sales to begin in late 2010.
RTEV, the Ruff & Tuff Electric Vehicle company, is not the first to realize that a battery-powered ATV could be a good seller (we spoke with Electric Vehicle Systems about their ATEV last year). RTEV is now ready to expand into the electric recreational vehicles market with three models - the Cruiser, the 4-wheel drive Hunter, and the Workman - and has high hopes for more EVs down the road.
RTEV's three current models are all Low Speed Vehicles, which means they're OK going 25 mph on roads designated with 35 mph speed limits. Ruff & Tuff sold about 1,000 vehicles last year and will introduce electric scooters and bicycles (branded with the Wheego name) later this year. 2009 should see car-shaped Ruff & Tuff NEVs hit the market and the company is talking about "full-size, full-speed electric vehicles" in 2010. Currently, RTEV vehicles use dry cell sealed (AGM) batteries that can move the vehicles about 70 miles between charges. Check out a video of the Hunter electric ATV in action and see more details on the currently-available LSVs after the break.
James Wang, director of the Intelligent Mobility Technology division of the Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (TARC), believes that Taiwan is the perfect testing ground for small, low-speed electric vehicles. The fact that huge numbers of people live centered around large urban areas means that most people don't need to travel long distances to get what they need. Additionally, Taiwan's warm weather is favorable for batteries. So, TARC has created what it is referring to as a light-electric-vehicle (LEV). TARC envisions these two-seat vehicles, with their odd wheel arrangement of three in the rear and one in front, zipping around the urban Mecca's that make up emerging countries.
TARC's goal is to reach a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles) and a top speed of 40 miles per hour. Those targets shouldn't be too difficult to reach. The LEV is powered by four removable lithium ion batteries which can either be recharged in the vehicle or replaced when discharged. We think that the specifications are fine, but question why the design of their LEV is superior to a more conventional arrangement (Remember the Ecooter?). Regardless, the vehicle is currently being tested in in rural areas, and plans are in the works to bring it into urban settings shortly.
A Wall Street Journal story today highlights the promise and potential problems with plug-in cars. More accurately, it highlights the problems and shoves most of the promise to the bottom. As automakers ready plug-in hybrids and electric cars for market, the sensational headline poses a clash of the titans: "Utilities, Plug-In Cars: Near Collision?"
As gasoline reaches $4 a gallon, the benefit to consumers of transportation energy at about $1 per gallon (equivalent) is undeniable. And if one reads down to near the end of the story, one finds the studies that show the tremendous upside in terms of carbon emission and petroleum reduction. As the article makes clear, as long as most plug-in cars charge up at night, the American electrical grid can already carry the load of more plug-in cars than are likely to be produced for a decade or more. Of course, night time charging is also more convenient; most cars are parked at night and used during the day. Still, the utilities are already exploring ways to ensure cars utilize the low-cost, excess capacity existing while consumers sleep, including incentive pricing, time of use metering, and smart meters.
And the environmental benefits reported are extraordinary. If enough plug-ins were on the roads, we could see oil consumption cut by 6.2 million barrels a day and U.S. carbon-dioxide emissions cut "by 450 million metric tons annually, equivalent to scrapping 82 million cars." Where the grid is comparatively clean, as in California, switching to electricity is a no-brainer. More surprising, the story reports, "Carbon-dioxide emissions would probably fall even if coal-fired plants made the electricity, some studies have found, because they burn coal more efficiently than automobiles burn gasoline." Of course as the electric grid becomes cleaner and more renewable thanks to state and federal mandates, the cars charging actually get cleaner, too.
When we were brainstorming ideas for Earth Day posts, we thought about featuring the ten most exciting green cars we wish we could buy today. It turns out that there are at least twice as many green rides on the horizon that we'd really like to have today, so the list has expanded. We'd like to note that this list is far from complete; the green sector of the automotive industry is growing in leaps and bounds. Start here and join us for a guided preview of our future garages or jump ahead by clicking on a number below. Either way, enjoy!
London's iconic taxi cabs have long been comfortable, loud and diesel-belching. Now, one of the largest manufacturers of the taxi cabs, Manganese Bronze, has announced plans to produce an electric version with electric vehicle specialists the Tanfield Group. The company has been losing business as some cities refuse to buy the standard diesel version due to emissions.
The green cab is to be produced in Shanghai, China in a deal with Chinese carmaker Zhejiang Geely. The car is expected to have a top speed of 50 miles per hour with a 100 km range. Although the car is expected to be priced at more than the £30,000 diesel, running costs will be significantly lower. Thanks to Philip H. for the tip!
As ABG reported earlier today, Th!nk has announced it will be coming to the U.S. market. More information has come out on Reuters via Th!nk's venture capital partners Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Rockport Capital. Ray Lane, a managing partner at Kleiner and chairman of Th!nk North America, said today "In a couple of years, we hope to be selling 30-40-50,000 cars per year." The report states that Th!nk intends to launch the vehicle in 2009 at a sub-$25,000 price point.
Th!nk's VC partners' high profile participation in the electric car maker's U.S. launch is evidence of the greater attention being paid to battery electric technologies after an initial preference for biofuel development.
Shortly after announcements that Th!nk would be selling its wares in the U.K. and possibly Australia comes news that the Norwegian maker of small electric cars is launching operations in America. Th!nk's City electric car was designed with the American market in mind, so this news should not be too surprising. There are no hard dates yet announced regarding when the vehicle will actually be available, but having a presence in the states is surely a good sign.
The head of the World Wildlife Fund has come out publicly in favor of the electrification of the world's transportation system. James Leape, director general of WWF International, has declared that cars need to get smaller, lighter and far more efficient. Leape also said that cars should be migrating to electric drive because it is more efficient than internal combustion engines. As an organization that supports preserving animal species, the WWF has a vested interest in helping to mitigate phenomena like climate change, deforestation and other environmental problems.
All the car-makers are working on a variety of electric drive vehicles using multiple technological approaches. There are of course multiple issues with all of these including cost, durability, range, etc. There is also, of course, the issue of producing electricity to power plug-in vehicles. Somewhere there's a chorus repeating the mantra that we need to work aggressively to develop sustainable methods of generating electricity.
Here we have an electric car which is not an electric car. When the current owner got the car, is was stripped of its motor, batteries and other assorted bits. For that reason, in went a Ford 2.8 liter V6, meaning that the vehicle you see here is a Detroit Electric in name only. The vehicle has gone through a complete overhaul, with a new custom chassis underpinning the aluminum body. While it's not uncommon to see a previously gasoline-powered vehicle converted to electric, we collectively shed a tear that this particular piece of motoring history is no longer powered by electrons. It's a bit ironic that the seller points out the good gas mileage of the small V6 engine. Thanks for the tip, Dad!
Spark-EV's Michael Papp's future might not be looking up. As you probably remember, Papp was arrested last week for not delivering 14 electric vehicles to two companies, Electric Cars of Houston and Electric Transportation of Arkansas. Penn Live has posted an article from The Express-Times that says that the local District Attorney, John Morganelli, is checking into filing additional charges against Papp. Morganelli said that Papp has been on his radar for a while.
Papp now says he plans to refund the $100,000 he accepted from the two EV companies "but could not immediately give back the wired payments," the Express-Times wrote. Papp also said he can prove the cars are ordered and en route to the two companies. We'll see, won't we?
Thanks to our reader Mike, we have an update to share about the troubled history of Michael Papp electric vehicle company. Regular readers will remember that Papp is the man behind Spark EV, a company that has been accused more than once of shady dealings. It looks like the New Jersey law officials agree, and have decided to step in to put a stop to Papp's scam.
According to the Express Times, Papp was arrested Friday after failing to deliver 14 electric vehicles to Electric Cars of Houston (which had ordered 10) and Electric Transportation of Arkansas (four). Papp is charged with bilking them for almost $100,000, according to court records. The EVs were paid for in January and February, and Papp told the payers the vehicles would be delivered March 14. They weren't. After trying to track down what happened, the companies asked for a refund. Papp answered that he was filing for bankruptcy, so no go. Apparently, Papp is in Northampton County Prison and being held on $20,000 bail. We'll have more on this as things move forward, I can guarantee you that.
Neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) are about to get their status upgraded in British Columbia. Currently, NEVs are lumped with tractors in the slow-moving vehicle category which means, like tractors, they can drive on public roads with speed limits up to 50 KPH (31 MPH) as long as they have an "overhead amber light" and a large orange triangular sign displayed. Oh, and the four-way flashers must be blinking just for good measure.
New legislation this Spring will impact potential drivers of these vehicles (like the Zenn car pictured above) in two ways, according to an article in the Times Colonist. First they won't have to be decked out like tractors and second, they will be allowed on any road in the province with a speed limit of 40 KPH (25 MPH) and on some roads with a 50 KPH limit if it is in a municipality that will allow the higher limit. That may be good for electric-car friendly cities like Saanich but not so good in Victoria, where Mayor Alan Lowe believes that NEVs could impact traffic flow and might "cause even more greenhouse-gas emissions by putting on your brakes more often."
Photo of new Delhi by Wili Hybrid. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
Drivers interested in an electric cars in New Delhi will likely soon be able to get a government subsidy that will cost the government around Rs 25 crore (Rs 35 crore if two- and three-wheelers are added). Since early February of this year, a 25 paise tax has been added to each liter of diesel fuel and should generate around Rs 48 crore for the governemnt. Up to 2,000 EVs could be subsidized this year, the government estimates, but the exact subsidy per vehicle has not been decided. A 15 percent "significant" amount is possible. The Hindustan Times reports that the Council of Ministers is likely to pass this proposal at its next meeting. The overall intent is to clean the air in New Delhi. Other Indian cities already exempt BEVs from the road tax and some states exempt them from the VAT. [Source: Hindustan Times]
Deutsche Bank analysts took a serious look at the proposal of Project Better Place for electric cars in Israel and Denmark and came away impressed with its viability. The researchers returned to Germany believing that the Better Place idea would work not only in small countries with extremely high automobile taxes and gasoline prices, but also in the U.S.
As reported at Solveclimate.com, their conclusion states "From checking the Project Better Place business model, we are concluding that a pure electric car should not cost any more than a diesel- or a gasoline-powered car, and in most countries its operating costs should actually be lower."
The proposal, spearheaded by Israeli-American entrepeneur Shai Agassi, envisions a financial separation of the car from its battery, lowering the initial cost of ownership. Following the cell phone model, a monthly charge would pay for the battery and electricity. The electric cars would be manufactured by automakers. Nissan-Renault has already announced it will produce electric cars for the program in Israel and Denmark.
The report not only adds financial establishment credibility to the idea, it contained some news. It suggests that five to ten additional countries will announce similar programs before the end of the year. Perhaps more significantly, it predicts two more manufacturers will announce their intention to produce electric cars to work with the Better Place model. The Israeli new website Globes was given an exclusive copy of the report which appears on the site in Hebrew only. ABG has been following Project Better place closely, most recently posting a video of CEO and Founder Shai Agassi's speech on "The Future of Electric Cars."
It could be the quickest vehicles to go from concept to a public, drivable prototype in automotive history. As previewed, "Israelis got a first demonstration Sunday of the electric car that developers hope will revolutionize transportation in the country and serve as a pilot for the rest of the world," began the report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 
A Wall Street Journal story
London's iconic taxi cabs have long been comfortable, loud and diesel-belching. Now, one of the largest manufacturers of the taxi cabs, Manganese Bronze, has announced plans to produce an electric version with electric vehicle specialists the Tanfield Group. The company has been losing business as some cities refuse to buy the standard diesel version due to emissions. 
Deutsche Bank analysts took a serious look at the proposal of 
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