TechnoRide, 'the car site for tech fans,' has managed to score a Zenn electric car for review. They seem to have had a good time with the NEV, calling it "impressive." They do, however, note a few issues with the vehicle, which are to be expected, including a lack of luxury features and excessive noise. The reviewer had no problem getting up to the Zenn's max-speed of twenty-five miles per hour and mentions that it's capable of more if it weren't for that electrically-limited speed regulation system.

TechnoRide also makes mention of the solid state electrical storage system from EEStor, which we are all still waiting to hear more about. The review echoes news that the Zenn with EEStor system should be available in 2009, and we remain hopefully optimistic that this is indeed the case. We're not forgetting that we've yet to see any demonstration of the capacitor-based system.

[Source: TechnoRide]

At ZENN annual shareholder meeting in Toronto yesterday, company officials made a big announcement about their plans to move beyond mere neighborhood electric vehicles. They plan to launch a model called the cityZENN which will be a fully certified electric car with 80 mph top speed and 250-mile range. The most important element of the cityZENN is the use of EEStor ultra-capacitors to store electrical energy. ZENN is claiming five minute recharge capability for the EEStor energy storage system. However, don't expect to do five minute recharges at home. Just as with fast charging batteries from the likes of Altairnano, putting that much energy in the capacitors so quickly requires very high current and voltage, much more than is available from any regular outlet. It will also take a very thick cable to provide sufficiently low resistance.

In other news, the existing NEV range will get new four passenger and utility versions added. ZENN also plans to work with some OEMs to produce vehicles with a ZENNergy drive-train (electric drive with EEStor storage) and branded as ZENN vehicles for sale. No word on exactly when that will happen. There's also a recording of the meeting available at the ZENNcars.com web site. You'll need to register and have RealPlayer installed to listen.

[Source: ZENN thanks to Mark for the tip]

If you like to laugh at tiny neighborhood electric vehicles, take a look at the video above. It's got ZENN cars, Canadian comic Rick Mercer and a few good beer jokes. Of course, Mercer also makes the case for NEVs in this video, so don't expect simple ridicules of ZENN's vehicles. Instead, the Canadian government is the target of most of Mercer's wit. A Canadian government that doesn't allow Canadian-built cars to be sold in Canada deserves to be made fun of, Mercer figured when he recorded this bit back in November 2007. Of course, the legal situation is still in flux, as it's up to each province to declare whether these battery-powered boxes are OK on their streets. The comedy, though, is solid - especially the bit about what Canadians consider to be a week's worth of groceries.

The big question, though, is whether the joke may be on ZENN. In a recent interview, ZENN's CEO Ian Clifford is sticking with the updated EESTOR story, saying, "If they stay on schedule they are scheduled to deliver it in 2008." We've been waiting a long time for some sort of definitive news on this ultracapacitor, but nothing has materialized yet. Who will get the last laugh? Thanks to Domenick for the tip!

[Source: Alternative Energy]

Tamarack Lake Electric Boat Company, Electrovaya and a "firm that is developing electric ice resurfacing machines" are three electric vehicle companies that have moved (or are planning to move) from Ontario, Canada to New York State thanks to big incentives from New York State Energy Research Development Authority (NYSERDA).

According to CBC News, Tamarack Lake will get half a million dollars (I'm not sure if this is U.S. or Canadian money, but the two are fairly equal in value right now anyway) to build 1,200 boats in Rome, New York by 2012. NYSERDA is using "innovation funding" to lure the companies. Back across the border, Ontario's Innovation Ministry will set up a $175-million venture capital fund that will attempt to help companies in the province. That money comes too late for the three EV makers. No mention was made in the article about Zenn, the EV company based in Toronto.

Related:

• Mommy, what's that hydrogen zamboni doing?

[Source: CBC, h/t to Domenick]

For package delivery companies and the Post Office, the rising cost of fuel is taking an ever larger bite of revenues. In Washington state, Carolyn Triebenbach has found a solution. As a rural letter carrier Triebenbach does her daily twenty-mile route on only $0.40 worth of electricity. She uses a new Zenn NEV to deliver mail to 520 homes in Sequim. When she has a particularly heavy load of mail after a long weekend, she may have to take a 20-30 minute brake break later in the day for a charge to finish the route but otherwise the Zenn operates quietly and smoothly. Triebenbach paid an extra $5,000 on top of the $12,600 base price to get a right hand drive conversion and the passenger seat removed to hold the mail.

[Source: Peninsula Daily News, thanks to Domenick for the tip]

Recently we told you about Transport Canada's sudden shift to give Zenn's low speed electric vehicles a safety mark. Here is how it all happened according to the CBC; After the TV report, which included Transport Canada failing to give a good reason on why they held back the safety mark, Ian Clifford, founder of the ZENN Motor Company, said "hundreds and hundreds of people wrote in and responded to what really was an outrageous situation federally." Even NDP Leader Jack Layton complained of "bureaucratic roadblocks" during a question period in the House of Commons.

Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, said he was unaware of the situation until the TV report aired. Cannon looked into it and was told no safety mark was issued "because we were still waiting for information." Canon says "now that information has been tabled, the folks have looked at it and so we've issued the certificate." Clifford says he is "pleased and surprised" at receiving the market after a year and half of waiting. Clifford also said officials from Ontario and Quebec even told him they intend to introduce legislation soon on allowing low-speed vehicles on streets. British Columbia is currently the only Canadian province that lets low speed vehicles on the road.

[Source: CBC]

Less than a week ago, we told you about a CBC report with Zenn complaining Transport Canada was not allowing its low speed vehicle to sold in Canada. The report included a regulatory enforcement engineer that explained they were not being allowed to be sold yet because they were going to change the law. Turns outs the idea of ex post facto is still around, so they got a National Safety Mark.

CBC confirmed they received the safety mark and Transport Canada says it's up to individual provinces and territories how to legislate which roads are allowed to be used by the cars. British Columbia is currently the only Canadian province that lets low speed vehicles on the road. So, don't be surprised if you see a Zenn on BC streets soon.

Cheers for the press shinning a light and probably solving this problem! Jeers for the provinces and territories not stepping up with legislation.

[Source: CBC and tipster Mike]

Almost all NEVs in the U.S. are limited by law (and thus by a setting in the car) to 25 mph. In some areas - Montana, for example - the laws are being changed so that these little commuter cars can go 35 mph. But, just because the law changes doesn't mean that the car magically upgrades its top speed. No, for that we'll need to turn to Electric Cars Are For Girls' upgrade guide, written exclusively for ZENN vehicles.

I'll start the way the guide does: with caveats. Therefore, I must say you should only attempt this if a.) you know what you're doing and b.) it's legal and c.) you've read through all the caveats at ECAFG and understand what you're getting into. OK, that should make the lawyers happy (and stop you from becoming unhappy).

The guide describes a step-by-step method to change the settings to the speed controller. You'll need a laptop (PC, I think), some cables, a free file from ECAFG and a version of the GE Sentry Software ($40). Once you've collected these things, it's a fairly straightforward process of hooking the laptop to the car and changing the settings. The full details are available here.

[Source: Electric Cars Are For Girls]

Canadian-based Dynasty electric cars is ending production in Canada and moving over seas. Very soon Canadian-based electric car company Zenn may choose to give up on Canada and move production as well. Why? The Canadian dollar reaching parity with the US dollar did not help much (imports from Canada are now much more expensive in the US) but the major reason is Canada's regulatory agency won't let Zenn or Dynasty sell their electric cars in Canada even when they are sold and celebrated all over the world.

CBC News gave Harry Baergen, a senior regulatory enforcement engineer at Transport Canada, a call and asked if Zenn meet regulations. Harry said "They haven't met our requirements yet, no." When asked about the specific regulation Harry said "They've showed us that it meets requirements as an LSV (low-speed vehicle)." So... ah, what's the problem, Harry? Harry says "Our definition is presently being clarified because there is a little bit of a broadness in it."

Zenn's founder Ian Clifford says it's a "different story ... every time" from Transport Canada and they get "road blocks thrown up in front of us every attempt." Ian says it's getting to the point now where we're almost giving up on Canada." Danny Epp, general manager at Dynasty electric cars has already given up saying the company is "not getting any support from the federal level."

Good luck with production overseas Dynasty. You might want to look into Asia and specifically countries like Thailand which has an eco car program. Unlike Canada, Thailand is actually changing laws to support electric car companies. This is another reason electric cars will become common place in Asia before it's normal in the Western world. You can watch the video of the CBC report below the fold.

Update: Dynasty is sold in Canada.

[Source: CBC News]

C-NET's Michael Kanellos did a little thinking out loud this week when he tried to list all of the electric car start-up companies (not major automakers working on EVs). He counted 16 small companies. The names on this list will be familiar to just about anyone who reads AutoblogGreen, but I thought it was interesting to see them all gathered in one place:

Tesla Motors (sports cars), Wrightspeed (sports cars and plug-in drivetrains for trucks), Fisker Automotive (electric sedans), Zap (low-speed and sports cars), Miles Automotive (low speed), Zenn Motors (low speed), AC Propulsion (retrofitting Scions for electric), Phoenix Motorcars (SUVs), Aptera (three-wheelers), Porteon (low speed electrics), Lightning (sports cars in England), Reva (economy cars), Ultramotor (electric trishaws), Myers Motors (freakish three-wheelers featured in Goldmember), Think (electric economy cars) and Venture Vehicles (three-wheeled electric cars.).

I'd say the only "major" player that Kanellos missed is GEM, which has been making glorified golf carts for ages. Other contenders not on his list include Universal Electric Vehicle, American Electric Vehicle, G-Wiz and Hybrid Technologies. I'm sure there's at least a couple more we're missing, but we're already got over 20 small EV companies. Pretty soon, he figures, this list will be much easier to calculate: "History shows that most of these companies will be wiped out." So it goes, as my favorite author would write.

[Source: C-NET]

Recently, I've noticed that we've had a few comments regarding the lack of announcements coming from ZENN Motors and EEStor regarding when we might see an actual product using their new energy storage technology. In fact, it was even mentioned by one person who visited a ZENN dealership that he was told that there were problems regarding the technology. It was said that if the product ever does become available, it would not have nearly the specifications that were originally quoted. So, I decided to contact ZENN regarding these rumors. Here is the reply that I got:

Dear Mr. Korzeniewski,

Thank you for your interest.

We continue to say that we are expecting to receive the technology at the end of the year. EEStor has reached all their benchmarks so far. That is about all I can say.

Again, thank you for your interest and if I can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

So, what does all of this mean? Either the aforementioned dealer was given misinformation, or ZENN isn't being completely forthcoming. Let's just keep on the lookout for any information about EEStor and ZENN for now, and hope that all is on track. I'll follow up with ZENN shortly. Stay tuned.

Related:

• Zenn buys into ultra capacitor company EEStor
• More on EEstor's ultracapacitor - can we believe the hype?
• Quick update on EEStor and ZENN Motors

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new type of capacitor which allows up to seven times the electrical storage potential as standard capacitors available today. The breakthrough apparently is a polymer called PVDF which can act as a high-performance dielectric, which is an insulating material between two metal surfaces. Electricians are used to using a dielectric grease on electrical connections, so this may be a familiar concept to some of our readers.

This is good news for the electric and hybrid car industry, as capacitors are a possible alternative to batteries. Unlike batteries, which use a chemical reaction to release their stored energy, capacitors use no chemicals and are capable of storing and releasing a given amount of energy quickly. The problem is that capacitors generally store less energy than batteries. This potential, but untested breakthrough could alleviate some of that deficiency, allowing the capacitor to store more energy while still enabling that energy to be charged and discharged rapidly. EEStor is a name that has been thrown around on our blogs, as they claim to have a capacitor based system which rivals expensive batteries in power output, and possibly at less cost. We'll keep our ears and eyes open for more capacitor news, and we'll be sure to pass it along.

[Source: Science Daily, thanks to Matt for the tip]

NEVs, or neighborhood electric vehicles, don't seem to work out for everybody, but for those who can make them work despite the driving range and speed limitations, they are a good choice, as they can be fully electric and require no petroleum fuel at all. Here is a video from Lang Motors, apparently a dealership which sells fully electric vehicles. This is your standard commercial type ad which extols the virtues of the vehicle in question: the ZENN.

This is the second video that I have found for ZENN motorcars on Youtube, the first had much more technical information about the car, so if you are interested in knowing more about the ZENN in particular, I would suggest giving that video a look see. Also, why not check out the rest of our coverage of ZENN, and pay particular attention to their possible future vehicles using the EEStor power source.

[Source: Youtube via Hugg]

The benefits and drawbacks of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles, or NEVs, are pretty widely know debated. The ease of use, lack of gasoline consumption and low environmental impact spur their purchase by drivers who need to get around large complexes and communities, but their lack of speed, range and safety equipment limit their use to low speed use only.

ZENN, which stands for zero emissions no noise, has released a video of their newest NEV model, the 2.22. I found the video fairly informative, and I think it is worth a watch. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the tip, Linton!

[Source: Youtube via Hugg]

A new Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) store is now open in Salt Lake City selling two-seater and four-seater models. You can pick up a two-seater for about $7,000 and a four-seater for $10,000. The vehicles have a range of about 40 miles and incredibly low running costs. Ideal for planned communities and warm weather, NEVs make great second cars or main cars for people who don't need to travel far.

Analysis: No word as to what brands are to be sold in the dealership, but I'd expect the Miles ZX40 and the ZENN models would be likely. All-electric vehicle dealerships are likely to be niche businesses for a while yet, but they're bound to start popping up as more EV start-ups enter the market.

Related:

• AutoblogGreen visits the American Electric Vehicle factory and we drive a Kurrent
• The Top Ten electric vehicles you can buy right now (for the most part)
• Wisconsin pro-NEV law actually makes it harder to drive electric vehicles there

[Source: KCPW News]