Gasoline-powered cars are perhaps the most inefficient devices that many of us use daily. The internal combustion engine is inefficient in term of pollution, gas costs and maintenance costs. Electric motors are comparatively simple devices that do not require much maintenance at all. But, as you may know, it’s difficult to obtain an commercial electric car today. One option is to buy a used vehicle that somebody else has converted to an electric vehicle. (more…)

At MetaEfficient, I am a strong advocate of car-free living (see my review of the books How To Live Well Without Owning A Car and Car-Free Cities). However, clean, electric vehicles can be useful in some situations. If you recharge them using a renewable energy source such as solar power, they are completely emissions-free. The least expensive way to get an electric car is to convert your current car to an electric vehicle — see this article I wrote more info. Here’s a round-up of the pure electric cars that can be ordered today: (more…)

Denmark has a problem — it’s generating too much power from the wind. Currently, Denmark gets about 20% of its total electrical power from wind. On windy days, that percentage can double. The ups and downs of wind power can strain an electricity grid. In western Denmark, the price of electricity can drop to zero on a windy day, leaving utilities scrambling to offload excess power or take a financial hit. To solve this problem, the Danish utility company Dong Energy plans to build a nationwide system to charge electric cars with the surplus wind power.

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Toyota has just announced that it plans on building its first plug-in hybrid by 2010. This car will be direct competition with GM’s high-profile Volt, which is set to released that year. However, many pundits believe that the Volt is “vaporware” and will not be released in 2010. (more…)

It’s a prototype hybrid car that gets 150MPG, and goes 40 miles on electricity alone, drawing its power from a combination of lithium-ion batteries and ultracapacitors. The ultracapacitors provide a burst of energy to the engine, when needed. They are then recharged by the lithium-ion batteries. This avoids the problem of emptying the batteries too fast, which can cause them to heat up, and possibly catch on fire.

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It’s the Aptera — a futuristic car that has generated a lot of buzz lately — and with good reason — the Aperta is a very, very efficient vehicle (just check out the video: you’ll see what I’m talking about). The car’s head-turning design has a purpose: the shape is highly aerodynamic (much like a jet). It ready available for pre-order, and priced at about $27,000. There will be two models of the Aptera: an all-electric version that goes 120 miles on a charge (for 2008), and a gasoline version that will get 300 mpg (for 2009). The car is also said to be very safe, see the safety FAQ here.

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Ener1, an alternative energy company, has become the first to successfully integrate a lithium-ion battery into an operating hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an important milestone for the electric vehicle industry. The company’s battery division, EnerDel, will exhibit its lithium-ion battery pack in an operating HEV at the EVS-23 show in Anaheim, California Dec. 2-4. (more…)

Volvo is unveiling an innovative plug-in hybrid at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The ReCharge Concept is a specially designed Volvo C30 with individual electric wheel motors and batteries that can be charged via a regular electrical outlet. When fully charged the Volvo ReCharge Concept can be driven approximately 62 miles on battery power alone before the car’s four-cylinder 1.6 Flexifuel engine1 is needed to power the car and recharge the battery. The concept car also retains the Volvo C30’s lively and sporty drive thanks to an acceleration figure of 0-62mph in 9 seconds and a top speed of 100mph.

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This month sees the launch of the Elettrica, the first production electric car on the UK market with the option of a lithium power supply. The car is said to provide almost twice the range of other small electric cars at 70 miles. Lithium-ion batteries are more commonly found in laptops and mobile phones. They offer higher performance, but have yet to become commonplace due to cooling and battery life problems.

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Miles Rubin, founder of Miles Automotive Group, wants to build an all-electric car that costs $30,000. It would be a zero-emissions vehicle with a top speed of 80 miles per hour and a range of 120 miles. Basically, the idea is to have this electric car compete head-to-head with a conventional sedan like the Camry. Rubin’s company already builds low-speed electric cars like the 2007 Miles ZX40S. It’s a four-seat sedan that operates at a top speed of 25 mph with a driving range of 40 to 50 miles on a single charge from regular house current.

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Toyota has developed a plug-in hybrid vehicle for public road tests in Japan and plans the tests for the U.S. and Europe. (Cars that can run on electricity are much more efficient and economical than gasoline powered cars. They can recharged via renewable energy sources like the solar power and wind power. Even if the electricity is produced by burning coal, it’s still greener than burning gasoline.) Other major automakers, including General Motors and Ford, are developing plug-in hybrids, a key technology that eliminates vehicles emissions.

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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.

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A new product called the Sunray Solar Roof Kit, from Cruise Car, will allow most golf carts to become solar powered vehicles. It will soon be available to golf courses, resorts any anyone who owns a golf cart. The solar panels can generate up to 180 watts and supply 3 amps directly to a 36 or 48 volt battery. Overall, this will increase the distance the cart can go on a single charge by 30%.

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Ford and Southern California Edison (a utility company) will be partnering in a joint initiative to test and demonstrate a fleet of plug-in hybrid electric cars. Ford will give the Californian utility a demonstration fleet of 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid SUVs that will be converted by Ford to become plug-in electric vehicles.

A Ford press release said that as their plug-in hybrid program grows, they will develop a business model not just for Southern California, but potentially nationwide. Environmental advocates, particularly in California, have been pressing automakers to roll out plug-in vehicles capable of running solely on electricity for short distances and recharging at a standard electric outlet.

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Wow, this is great news for those of us who would like to see electric cars go mainstream. Yesterday, Google switched on the 1.6 megawatts solar roof on its corporate campus. The roof will provide about one third of the company’s electricity. Google also announced plans to accelerate the adoption of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Google.Org is awarding $1 million in grants to projects related to plug-in hybrid cars, and has announced plans to award a further $10 million in grants. Google has also unveiled a new employee parking garage where drivers can charge their plug-in cars, powering up their batteries using solar energy.

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Recently, Phoenix Motorcars demonstrated their plug-in electric SUV that will go on sale in 2008. The SUV uses AltairNano’s fast-charge lithium-ion battery technology for power. The vehicle has a top speed of about 100 miles per hour, and its range is about 250 miles. Here’s a video of the SUV in action.

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A lithium-ion battery manufacturer, A123Systems, will begin marketing a kit in 2008 that will convert a regular hybrid car into a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, as known as a PHEV. Currently priced at $10,000 (with a $3,500 tax credit), these modules are still expensive for the average car owner. For example, a commuter driving 11,000 miles per year with gas at $3 a gallon, the payback time would be 5.5 years. The payback for a fleet owners is quicker at 2.5 years, against an expected life of 10 or more years. About the conversion kits themselves, A123Systems says:

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This week the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced that it will provide up to $14 million in funding plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) battery development. This research aims to find solutions to improving battery performance so vehicles can deliver up to 40 miles of electric range without recharging. This would include most round-trip daily commutes. Plug-in hybrid electric car have a larger battery than hybrid electric car, and the challenge is to incorporate the batteries into a car, and ensure that the batteries will be reliable throughout the life of the car.

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Soon, in California, you may be able to power your home with your car during a blackout, or even have the utility company pay you for the power that your car produces. San Jose Mercury News reports that PG&E, a Californian utility company will showcase a converted Toyota Prius in Sunnyvale, CA. (Update: See a video of the prototype cars on this page). These “vehicle-to-grid” cars charge by plugging into a three-prong 110- to 120-volt outlet. If the home needs energy, such as during a blackout or on a peak day when electricity prices are high, a switch can be flipped to send the charge the other way.

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The VentureOne is another three-wheeling electric vehicle that has been given a green light to go into production. The vehicle seats two and is capable of 100 miles per hour while maintaining its 100 miles per gallon fuel efficiency going from 0 - 60 in a respectable 6 seconds. It can also tilt almost 45º in turns. The total range is between 300 - 350 miles which is equivalent to most compact cars like the Civic and Corolla.

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