This SUV by Phoenix Motorcars is an all-electric, zero-emissions vehicle. It can recharge in 10 minutes, and it has a range of a 100 miles (or more) per charge. It’s fast too — it can achieve speeds of 95 MPH while carrying five passengers and a full payload. The vehicle uses the innovative NanoSafe batteries by Altairnano. NanoSafe batteries are made with a non-toxic compound, lithium titanate. This is similar to lithium-ion chemistry, but the use of titanium that prevents the fundamental cause of uncontrolled thermal runaway.
Here’s a video of the SUV in action.
Right now, the vehicles are only available to fleet buyers. But Phoenix Motorcars will also release a consumer version of its zero-emission, freeway-speed vehicle in late 2008. The company is also working to release a battery pack that will provide a 250 mile range.
This company is an early leader in the mass production of full-function, green electric trucks and SUVs. The company estimates a sales production of 500 vehicles for 2007 and 6,000 vehicles for 2008.
With eventual public sales in mind, company officials said Altairnano is already talking with Pacific Gas & Electric, California’s largest utility, about a web of “rapid charge stations.” With conventional 480-volt, three-phase service, they could top off batteries during a coffee stop (recharging at home, with the same 220 volts that runs the clothes dryer or stove, would take about five hours).
Web site: Phoenix Motorcars
More info: CarDevotion.Com
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
this might sell,if they put the long {250 mile}battery pack in it. it would be something i would concetar.
It’s pretty crazy that this technology is over 100 years old. I posted an article from CarDevotion.com if you want to read more about it.
“all-electric, zero-emissions vehicle”
where does the electricity come from?
hmmmm…
moving the point in the chain where the emissions are created does not eliminate the emissions.
Paul,
The electricity can come from renewable sources: e.g. wind or solar power. Many people would probably recharge at home using a solar carport, if electric cars were widely available.
Justin
There was a press conference about this recently but I haven’t seen it yet. Some of the main guys involved in hybrid and electric cars said they would explain how the emissions farther up the line was much less. If i find the video or a press release I will post it.
If you think that the energy “crisis” in North America is bad now, just wait until everybody starts plugging in their SUVs!!! The only “clean” way to produce the volumes of power needed for wide spread use of electric vehicles would be nuclear power stations. Renewable sources like solar and wind are not practical nor affordable to most of the population.
Very nice. Even nicer would be a fotovoltaic cover/paint of some sort on this car, so that it could recharge while sitting in the parkinglot.
You can’t neglect the fact that only about 22% of the most efficient internal combustion engines energy is used for useful work. Large scale power plants even oil based ones have much higher efficiencies so by running off of the grid’s power and then just through one of these batteries (which I believe i about 85-90% efficient) means that essentially you’re getting a hell of a lot more bang for your buck (and CO2 molecule). And then yes when you start factoring the percent of the power grid run off cleaner power sources your overall emissions are going down. Actually if you look at hydrogen cars in comparison it’s really hard to store, extremely volatile, most of the cell have around 30% power efficiency, and the most affordable source currently available is from natural gas… Thus even when oil runs out (or at least much lower) and there’s a few extra decades of natural gas left, the energy companies maintain their rule…
GREAT TECHNOLOGY FROM THE PHOENIX VEHICLES.
WONDER HOW MUCH CURRENT THEY DRAW WHEN CHARGING?
carl,
it would be tons cheaper if congress passed a building regulation when jimmy carter put the solar mirrors on the whitehouse. that regulation being every new house built from 1980 til today required to have solarmirrors intalled when built. if that were done every home built from 1980 til today would be providing 50-90 percent of all cities ‘DAYTIME ELECTRICITY’ since the mirrors produce more than the house needs.
I think this is the best way to go. We all know that Gm is run by the big old companies. SO it will be a big fight before they allow all cars to be electric.
This would for sure keep us from using foreign oil or depending on it. So either way its a win win situation. We dont pay for gas no more foreign oil being needed.
IN MY HUMBLE OPINION : OIL GAS, TOBACCO AND COAL CORPORATIONS SHOULD PROVIDE ZERO EMISSION ELECTRIC VEHICLES FREE OF CHARGE FOR ALL THE IRREPARABLE DAMAGE THEY HAVE DONE TO THE WORLD.
My husband and I have been talking about this vehicle for a very long time, I love it and I want one right now. But just the other day I thought of one very big question that I havent been able to get an answer to and that is……”Where do you plug it in for the shorter charge when you are traveling long distances?” I have family all over the place and it wouldnt be very fun if I got to an area that didnt have somewhere for me to charge my vehicle. Im sure after these vehicles have been out for some time it will get easier to find places to plug them in. But what about the first few years before they have become a more astablish use of transportation??
Just make a better looking SUV, make it look similar to a Cadillac or Hummer, then it would sell, everything else about it, is fine!