Click image for photo gallery of the UPS EV van

Last weekend, reader Andrew Grin accompanied a friend on one of the NY-area Tesla Roadster test drives that were being held (his friend has a Roadster reserved). Following the experience with the EV sports car, Andrew and his buddies spotted a somewhat peculiar UPS truck parked across the street from the garage where the Tesla was dropped off. The big delivery truck had "Zero Emission Electric Vehicle" emblazoned on its side panels. A walk to the front also showed a blank spot where the radiator grille would normally reside. They quizzed the truck's driver, who told them that it's one of two of its kind in New York City, and that it has a 15-mile range. The photos below come courtesy of Andrew, who happened to have his camera on hand to capture the Tesla drive. Turns out, he caught another interesting EV with it as well. Thanks, Andrew!


[Source & Photos: Andrew Grin]

Click above image to enlarge

The fuzz in Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture are getting a new ride, and while it's certainly not going to come out as the victor in a high-speed pursuit, it should handle lighter duties just fine. The car, as you can see above, is a Mitsubishi i MiEV, and the delivery of the unit to the police department for testing appears to mark the first such use of an i MiEV by a Japanese organization other than a power company. Kanagawa Five-O will evaluate the car through March of 2009, and Mitsubishi will regularly collect test data for further analysis. Now, what would be really awesome is if you could divert power from the battery to a set of integrated tasers. They may be superfluous, though, as criminals will likely just surrender to the car's cuteness.

[Source: Mitsubishi]

How can we figure out how much potential electric car buyers are willing to pay for their battery-powered rides? Why not just ask them?

That's what Liberty Electric Cars did at the recent Eden Project 'Green' Car Show. Liberty conducted "in-depth interviews" at the show and found that green car fans are willing to pay up to 30 percent more for a car if it's powered solely by electrons. That's a huge premium that at least some in our little community are willing to fork over. On a $20,000, for example, that's six grand, and 65 percent of the people Liberty interviewed said the 30 percent extra is no problem. Forty-five percent, though, said that smaller, less powerful, "city" cars would not be acceptable. I guess that means that 55 percent think that the Th!nk City (pictured) would be OK, which is good.

Liberty Electric Cars is the company that's working to convert Range Rovers to EVs. More info after the jump.

[Source: Liberty Electric Cars]

Remember the WIRED article exposing the, let's say, odd things that have happened at electric car company Zap? EDN's technical editor, Paul Rako, has written an article saying that EV hucksterism needs to be everybody's business. Basically, he writes, don't buy the hype. "When unknown hucksters start peddling their BS it is time to take a deep breath and hope sanity prevails," he said. Rako singles out John Goodwin, who's creating Neil Young's LincVolt, as the best example of EV hucksterism. Really, more so than Michael Papp, who was actually arrested for his scam?

We certainly like to hear about new cars and technologies here on AutoblogGreen, and we do try to take that deep breath (and not just when we log into our Skype accounts), so I agree with Rako. Still, I'd take him a lot more seriously, if he hadn't called Neil Young a "former heroin addict." Whatever. Young also wrote some of the best songs ever, but what does all this have to do with anything?

[Source: EDN via EVWorld]

Need an audio guide to the electric vehicle world while you wait for the Who Killed The Electric Car sequel? Internet entrepreneur and author Bo Bennett along with his EV co-host Ryan Levesque think that their new electric car podcast - EVcast - is just what the doctor ordered. The free show is available at the website or in iTunes and the first episode will be released today at 1 pm EST via a live stream (podcast version to follow). According to a release sent out by Bennett, the show will "inform the American public on the benefits of the emerging technology of electric cars in a non-technical and entertaining way."

Bennett had the idea for the show after he started looking around for a new car about half a year ago and realized that EVs are the best option for the future. He recognizes EV's "shortcomings," but the show's "ultimate goal is to spread the adoption of the electric vehicle, but at the same time help consumers make smart decisions when comes to buying a pure EV, hybrid, or even sticking with a gas powered vehicle for now." Whether the duo will be able to "cut through the crap, figuratively speaking" remains to be heard.

[Source: EVcast]

Dean Patterson, a visiting professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, isn't waiting for the OEMs to make him a plug-in hybrid. Patterson and his team of researchers are building a range-extended electric car in the school lab. Patterson, who expects all cars made in 10 years to have electric drive, told a local TV news team from KETV that the goal is to give the car a 50 mph top speed and an EV-only range of 20 miles. Sure, those aren't Volt-like numbers, but there would be a lot of takers for a car like that. So far, Patterson's experiments are running in a bicycle with a motor/generator and what he likes about the range-extender set-up is that it's the most efficient way to get energy from the gasoline in the tank to the wheels. Driving demos are expected next year.

[Source: KETV via EV World]

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.

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.

[Source: Wall St. Journal]

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.

[Source: The Express Times]

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]

Three months and $3,000 is what it took Instructable's poster Stryker (aka Ben) to build this great electric motorcycle. Unhappy with rising gas prices and ready to learn, Ben took a 1984 Honda Interceptor 700, gutted the gasoline components and added a 72V Advanced DC motor and 6 Yellow Top Optima batteries. He's explained the process here and here.

If a company offered this bike for sale, it wouldn't sell in great numbers. The 70 mph top speed is fine but it can only go 10-15 miles on a charge. Considering that Stryker lives just three miles from work, though, that "limit" is nonexistent for what he wants the bike to do. Of course, three miles is well within bicycle distance for some people, but the fun of creating a zero-emission motorcycle should not be dismissed. Don't believe me? Stryker is selling this bike so that he can build another.

[Source: Instructables via The Kneeslider]

Reader reaction to last week's California Air Resources Board vote to cut the ZEV Mandate by 70 percent was pretty resoundingly negative (although it's only fair to note some of you said the result was a good thing). Automotive News' Richard Truett has written an article that finds the decision's silver lining: it created a "sizable" market for plug-in hybrids. While pure EVs took a hit in the revision, automakers are now required to sell 66,000 PHEVs between 2012 and 2014. Considering you can't buy a single one today, this would be a nice change. Truett notes that Chrysler, Honda and Nissan could be face "major headaches" to comply with the rule, since they don't have any PHEVs in development. At least, there are no public plans for such vehicles from these companies. Smart grid PHEV charging technology is here, at least in testing form. What plug-in vehicles will we Californians (and people in the dozen or so states that adopt California's auto rules) be able to buy in 2012?

[Source: Richard Truett / Automotive News]

I was just catching up on my China mountain bike news when this photo of a little electric car caught my eye. The story it illustrated was even more interesting as it announced the launching of a new channel on China Central Television (CCTV). In an attempt to improve air quality and traffic congestion in its cities, electric bicycles, cars and other EVs will be promoted on the government's own web channel and will feature news and interviews with "governor's, environmental experts and electric vehicle companies", according to the post.

If you're interested in what the Chinese are up to with their plan for world-wide electric vehicle domination, you can check out the channel for yourself here. If you are like me and can't read Chinese you might want to try the soft poetry of the Google-translated version. If you're to busy for that, just watch this space and we'll keep you up to date on any pertinent news.

[Source: China MTB]

BMW seems to like the idea of an efficient new micro-car to offset the emissions of some of the brand's more egregious models in the upcoming EU carbon rules. There's more potential good news for people who'd like to drive a BMW that's green as all get out: there is a chance that the blue-and-white might build an all-electric car for the U.S. market. Automotive News (subs req'd) is reporting that a decision on such a car will come later this year. According to AN, one key question is whether to go it alone or work with a partner (Daimler, anyone?) on this vehicle. We're not picky.

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

Look, more signs that Project Better Place is taking root in Israel.

Two companies have been chosen to implement the charging infrastructure designed by Better Place. Aran Research and Development Ltd. and Nekuda DM Ltd will develop and install the first of an intended 500,000 charging sites in Israel alone. Hundreds will be installed in 2009. According to the Israeli business website Globes, "Project Better Place's engineering and marketing teams have formulated the design, safety, engineering, and operational features of the recharging stations."