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.
Lots of Nissan electric car news today. Shortly after hearing that Nissan intends to be a global leader in affordable electric cars, news comes that the company is looking at a few cities to trial some of their new electric vehicle technology. One such city on the short-list is reportedly London. Carlos Ghosn says, "We have not yet got to the level of talking to the mayor's office. At this stage it is just a feasibility study, but London is definitely among the cities interested." London seems to be a rather obvious choice, considering the cities controversial new congestion charges which would offer zero-emission vehicles a big advantage over their gas or diesel-consuming cousins.
Let's recap the other recent news. Israel and Denmark want in on the electric car craze too. In fact, What Car reports that Israeli authorities have struck a deal with Nissan allowing the automaker exclusive rights to sell electric cars in Israel for a period of ten years. California is slated to be the first stop for an upcoming Nissan electric car in the U.S.
Interestingly, Nissan hopes to get 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, of range from a single battery pack, which could then be swapped out or recharged at an EV station -- sorta like an electrified version of today's gas stations and part of the Project Better Place idea. Ghosn says that Nissan is fully capable of offering an EV, sans battery, for the same cost of a normal gas-powered car. After the initial purchase, the cost of the battery and the amount of money spent keeping it charged will be less than the cost of gasoline. Ghosn also says that Nissan's electric cars will be sexy and attractive. That seems to cover all the bases rather well. Nissan, you've got our attention... we're waiting!
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!
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.
When we drove the jellybean on wheels (the Mitsubishi i MiEV) at the New York Auto Show last month, we were pretty swept away. This is one nice EV. Maybe we weren't quite as enthralled as the kids in this commercial for the all-electric car, but we're still in favor of the i MiEV making it to showrooms soon.
While my Japanese has gotten seriously rusty ever since I moved away from Japan in 2001, you don't even need my level of understanding to get something out of these videos. As our tipster Yanquetino wrote:
They are worth seeing, IMHO. The second one is especially informative. Despite the Japanese, you can still catch words like "braking," "CO2," "engine," "motor," "battery," etc. (I guess these are all imported from English). More importantly, they provide the specification numbers in Arabic numerals and symbols (14 hours full charge with 110V, 7 hours with 220, 30 minutes to 80% at charging stations, 160 km range, etc., etc.).
I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually port these movies over to English, but for now... they are understandable! Evidently Mitsubishi is committed to bringing the iMiEV to market in Japan. Let's hope that they'll bring them here soon afterwards!
(If you're in favor of the i MiEV in the U.S., don't forget to sign this petition.)
When I watched the commercial, I understood the part where the voiceover says "It's like a cell phone" when the woman plugs the car in. I think it also says "Running on zero" at the end, which means running on zero CO2 emissions. In this clip, a more technical description of what the i MiEV is all about, a vision of what driving an electric car could be like is laid out. I describe this clip after the jump.
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.
Despite the fact that European buyers have a penchant for choosing diesels over hybrids (and everything else for that matter), Chinese manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams) is planning on testing out the Euro-hybrid waters. Their hybrid sedan, which was shown off in Detroit at the Auto Show, uses ferrous batteries and features plug-in capabilities. The vehicle is capable of traveling on electricity alone for treks of up to 60 miles before the gasoline engine is required. Still, hybrid sales in China have yet to set the world on fire.
"Savings on running costs [in Europe] are higher than in China because of high European fuel prices," according to company president Wang Chuanfu. "The emphasis in Europe is on the environment. So we will first bring our hybrid models to Europe. Start of sales in 2010 would be ideal." Chuanfu also hints that European production is also a possibility for their line of vehicles. A video of the BYD FD DM PHEV is pasted after the break.
As the California Air Resources Board meets today to vote on revisions to the ZEV Mandate, the voices calling on CARB to not kill the electric car all over again are rising. Jim Woolsey, Tesla's Ze'ev Drori, the Sierra Club and many more are telling CARB to keep the EV alive. Another voice, perhaps unexpected, has now joined the chorus: George Shultz, who was Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State.
Schultz has written a letter (PDF) to California Governor Schwarzenegger asking that the governator intervene and call on state air regulators to promote plug-in cars instead of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. This seems unlikely to me, considering Schwarzenegger's love of hydrogen cars and his Hydrogen Highway effort. Schultz said hydrogen cars are not a "near-term technology" and added that other states look to California's leadership in the alternative fueled vehicle scene. We'll have more on the CARB vote later today and there are more details after the jump.
Click above for a high-resolution gallery of the 2007 Toyota Prius Touring.
The New York Times Wheel's Blog has posted an interesting question along with a lousy answer. The question is: what is the car of the decade? The writer goes on to suggest a few selections, namely the Tesla Roadster and the Porsche Cayenne. We'll happily just dismiss the Cayenne from our list and move on. At some point, history may look back at Tesla and consider their initial offering, the Roadster, to be the most significant vehicle of this decade, but a much more obvious choice would have to be the Toyota Prius. Few would argue that the Prius almost single-handedly ignited the wave of hybrid cars (sorry, Insight), and whether or not you believe that hybrid vehicles make fiscal sense, the fact is that hybrids sell and nearly every manufacturer now has at least one to offer. All of this has taken place in the last decade and it has molded today's automotive landscape for the foreseeable future, as even those automakers which have chosen not offer hybrids are considering other fuel-saving alternatives in order to compete.
Now that we've discussed a few options, we'd be interested to hear what our readers think. Any Cayenne takers? No? OK, how about between the Tesla or the Prius? You certainly don't need our permission to name you personal favorite.
Lots of Nissan electric car news today. Shortly after hearing that Nissan intends to be a 
A Wall Street Journal story
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