The electric car is coming.
Unlike most things in these days of economic turmoil, you can take that to the bank. But while many automakers have made some sort of commitment to offer some form of electric car, the major question is: Will we buy it?
Well, the promotion has begun. And here are 10 reasons why many pundits say that, Yes, we will be buying electric cars.
1. There is no engine. Think about the savings in gas and maintenance. And there are four electric motors that run the electric car so if one motor goes out, you still have the other three churning along. The now available space can be used by batteries that provide the vehicle with the longer range we all want. There is a new mini vehicle hybrid electric vehicle that has been said to have a range of 900 miles. Wow!
2. Electric cars will be reliable. There is no doubt about that. And there is evidence of that already. There is an electric car that runs on solar power that has driven around the world. Double Wow!
3. The electric car can actually save you money in the long run. They may be more expensive to buy initially, but you will no doubt save on the maintenance and fuel costs.
4. Solar roofs that can be used to provide energy to run the vehicles will provide free power from the sun. Solar panels have already been developed to achieve this and a Prius has been modified to include a solar roof which has been proven to extend its range and make driving even cheaper.
5. They are quiet. Walking on the streets of a large city could be almost a pleasure because it will be so quiet once the old gas engine cars make their way to the junkyard.
6. Samples like the Tesla Roadster already exist which show the benefits: 0 to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds; doesn’t burn oil; travels 244 miles per charge; costs pennies per mile.
7. No infrastructure. The cars can be filled up so to speak by just plugging them into an electrical socket.
8. Besides being able to put solar panels on the roof of the vehicle, transparent solar panels have already been invented that can be put on the windshield providing more capability to turn sun light into energy and thus more range.
9. Believe it or not, there are companies that are developing “Solar Paint” -- paint that can generate electricity. So with solar panels on the roof and windshield and solar energy also coming from the paint on the surface of the vehicle, there is no chance that the car will be without power. Wow! Wow! Wow!
10. Finally, it will end once and for all our dependence on foreign oil -- wait, it will eliminate our need for any oil.
via AboutMyPlanet
Showing posts with label Electric car. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Electric car. Show all posts
Jan 15, 2009
Jan 10, 2009
$25,000 electric car set for Australia
An electric car costing only $25,000 could be on sale in Australia within three years.
The world's leading hybrid car maker, Toyota, used the 2009 Detroit motor show to unveil the Toyota FT-EV, a concept car that previews a new battery-electric “urban commuter” vehicle set to go on sale in 2012.
US media is reporting the diminutive Toyota FT-EV electric car could wear an affordable price tag of about US$20,000 (about $25,000).
The FT-EV electric vehicle will see Toyota join the growing number of manufacturers who in the early years of the next decade will offer vehicles that run on electricity.
The FT-EV is based on Toyota’s iQ micro-car that landed in European and Japanese showrooms in 2008, though swaps that car’s 1.0-litre petrol engine for a 45kW electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack.
Toyota says the three-metre-long, four-seater FT-EV has a cruising range of 80km and a targeted top speed of 112km/h.
It takes between 2.5 and 7.5 hours to recharge the Toyota FT-EV electric car, depending on the voltage of the power supply.
Toyota says the FT-EV will broaden its range of alternative-fuel vehicles as the world faces dwindling oil supplies, and will be aimed at city residents who would use the battery-electric car to commute between home and work, or to drive to other forms of public transport such as railway stations.
“Last year’s [2008's] spike in the price of petrol was no anomaly,” says Toyota Motor Sales group vice president, environmental and public affairs, Irv Miller.
“It was a brief glimpse of our future. We must address the inevitability of peak oil [when the world’s oil supply starts a permanent decline] by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size. This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity.”
Toyota FT EVToyota FT EVToyota FT EV concept car from 2009 Detroit motor show
Toyota says its petrol-electric hybrid vehicles – such as the third-generation Toyota Prius hybrid car also revealed at the 2009 Detroit motor show – will continue to be at the centre of the company’s long-term sustainable motoring program.
Toyota will introduce 10 new petrol-electric hybrid models by the early 2010s in various markets as it targets one-million hybrid sales per year.
Toyota also used the Detroit show to announce it was fast-forwarding its plug-in hybrid program from 2010 to 2009.
Towards the end of 2009, Toyota will deliver 500 Prius plug-in hybrids to global fleet-lease customers as part of a mass-production feasibility study.
The Prius plug-in hybrid (PHV) is different to the petrol-electric Prius that has become the world’s best-selling hybrid. The Prius PHV can only recharge its lithium-ion battery pack through a power outlet, whereas the current Prius recharges its nickel-metal hydride battery via its 1.5-litre petrol engine.
The FT-EV won’t be the first electric Toyota to go into production. The company sold an all-electric version of the RAV4 softroader in the US between 1997 and 2003.
The world's leading hybrid car maker, Toyota, used the 2009 Detroit motor show to unveil the Toyota FT-EV, a concept car that previews a new battery-electric “urban commuter” vehicle set to go on sale in 2012.
US media is reporting the diminutive Toyota FT-EV electric car could wear an affordable price tag of about US$20,000 (about $25,000).
The FT-EV electric vehicle will see Toyota join the growing number of manufacturers who in the early years of the next decade will offer vehicles that run on electricity.
The FT-EV is based on Toyota’s iQ micro-car that landed in European and Japanese showrooms in 2008, though swaps that car’s 1.0-litre petrol engine for a 45kW electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack.
Toyota says the three-metre-long, four-seater FT-EV has a cruising range of 80km and a targeted top speed of 112km/h.
It takes between 2.5 and 7.5 hours to recharge the Toyota FT-EV electric car, depending on the voltage of the power supply.
Toyota says the FT-EV will broaden its range of alternative-fuel vehicles as the world faces dwindling oil supplies, and will be aimed at city residents who would use the battery-electric car to commute between home and work, or to drive to other forms of public transport such as railway stations.
“Last year’s [2008's] spike in the price of petrol was no anomaly,” says Toyota Motor Sales group vice president, environmental and public affairs, Irv Miller.
“It was a brief glimpse of our future. We must address the inevitability of peak oil [when the world’s oil supply starts a permanent decline] by developing vehicles powered by alternatives to liquid-oil fuel, as well as new concepts, like the iQ, that are lighter in weight and smaller in size. This kind of vehicle, electrified or not, is where our industry must focus its creativity.”
Toyota FT EVToyota FT EVToyota FT EV concept car from 2009 Detroit motor show
Toyota says its petrol-electric hybrid vehicles – such as the third-generation Toyota Prius hybrid car also revealed at the 2009 Detroit motor show – will continue to be at the centre of the company’s long-term sustainable motoring program.
Toyota will introduce 10 new petrol-electric hybrid models by the early 2010s in various markets as it targets one-million hybrid sales per year.
Toyota also used the Detroit show to announce it was fast-forwarding its plug-in hybrid program from 2010 to 2009.
Towards the end of 2009, Toyota will deliver 500 Prius plug-in hybrids to global fleet-lease customers as part of a mass-production feasibility study.
The Prius plug-in hybrid (PHV) is different to the petrol-electric Prius that has become the world’s best-selling hybrid. The Prius PHV can only recharge its lithium-ion battery pack through a power outlet, whereas the current Prius recharges its nickel-metal hydride battery via its 1.5-litre petrol engine.
The FT-EV won’t be the first electric Toyota to go into production. The company sold an all-electric version of the RAV4 softroader in the US between 1997 and 2003.
Dec 30, 2008
230 mph, 8-Wheeled Electric Car May be On Sale Soon
If the Tesla Roadster just isn't enough for you...not fast enough, not weird enough, and not expensive enough, then you should probably start looking out for Eliica's. Just two of these Japanese peculio-mobiles currently exist, but the Eliica team is looking to get corporate sponsorship to produce 200 of them.
And, if they get that sponsorship, you'll be able to pick one up for the low, low price of $255,000.
Now, I know what you're thinking...why eight wheels? Well, very simply, so it can go faster. Traditionally, more rolling resistance would be a bad thing, but not if each of the wheels has its own 60 KW electric motor.
The goal of the team building the car at Keio University is to beat the world EV speed record, currently set at 400 mph.
Via EVWorld and AutoBlogGreen
And, if they get that sponsorship, you'll be able to pick one up for the low, low price of $255,000.
Now, I know what you're thinking...why eight wheels? Well, very simply, so it can go faster. Traditionally, more rolling resistance would be a bad thing, but not if each of the wheels has its own 60 KW electric motor.
The goal of the team building the car at Keio University is to beat the world EV speed record, currently set at 400 mph.
Via EVWorld and AutoBlogGreen
Dec 28, 2008
A $672 electric car, built by two DIYers
What do you get when you cross a Geo Metro with an electric forklift, a golf cart, and a bunch of used batteries? You get a ridiculously inexpensive, home-built, street-legal electric car.
This battery powered grocery getter was built by Darin Cosgrove and Ivan Limburg, of Brockville, Ontario. The friends were looking for a project to do in Limburg’s new workshop, and set their sights on building an EV after reading about a couple of DIY electric car conversions on the web.
Since neither of them had tackled anything quite like this before, they were wary of breaking the bank on what amounted to a rolling science project with a questionable outcome. So they bought all their parts & supplies second hand, and scrounged a few for free. They even recovered some of their costs by selling left over parts as they went along…
* They sold the Geo’s engine and its recently replaced gas tank through an online ad - you don’t need either of those in an EV!
* Most of the electric parts came from an old, used forklift they bought for $500. After removing its four DC motors and control module, they got most of their money back by selling the 16,000 lb chassis to a metal recycler, and one of the extra motors to another EV builder.
They caught a big break when it came time to get the car’s lead acid batteries.
“We met another EV owner who liked what we were doing, so he gave us a bunch of used batteries he had just replaced in his own EV,” says Cosgrove.
But the second hand lead has a downside: they probably could have doubled the distance the car could go on a charge if they had bought new.
Rear batteriesThe Metro’s small 48 volt battery pack is a major clue as to how they were able to keep costs so low: Cosgrove and Limburg built the car with ridiculously modest specs. With just eight 6 volt batteries and a motor controller from a golf cart, it’s an understatement to say the electric Metro doesn’t go very fast or very far.
But they say it does just fine as a neighbourhood runabout on the quiet streets of their small city. And by aiming low, they were able to avoid the pricier components and extra batteries needed for a more powerful, highway capable EV.
Their forklift motor driven Metro passed inspection and went on the road a few months ago. Since then it has gone more than 650 kilometers (400 miles) without using a drop of gas… or oil (hey - it was a 16 year old Geo engine after all).
Forklift motor installed on transmissionCosgrove reports a top speed of 65 km/h (40 mph), a range of 15 to 25 km (9 to 15 miles) on a charge, and says it costs about 3 cents per km (4.8 cents per mile) to run on renewably sourced, clean electricity. (For comparison, Limburg figures his gasoline powered compact pickup truck costs 12 cents per km to drive.)
While it’s fair to say the electric Metro’s performance won’t cause any worry over at Tesla Motors, you can also be sure its builders aren’t losing much sleep about car payments either.
This battery powered grocery getter was built by Darin Cosgrove and Ivan Limburg, of Brockville, Ontario. The friends were looking for a project to do in Limburg’s new workshop, and set their sights on building an EV after reading about a couple of DIY electric car conversions on the web.
Since neither of them had tackled anything quite like this before, they were wary of breaking the bank on what amounted to a rolling science project with a questionable outcome. So they bought all their parts & supplies second hand, and scrounged a few for free. They even recovered some of their costs by selling left over parts as they went along…
* They sold the Geo’s engine and its recently replaced gas tank through an online ad - you don’t need either of those in an EV!
* Most of the electric parts came from an old, used forklift they bought for $500. After removing its four DC motors and control module, they got most of their money back by selling the 16,000 lb chassis to a metal recycler, and one of the extra motors to another EV builder.
They caught a big break when it came time to get the car’s lead acid batteries.
“We met another EV owner who liked what we were doing, so he gave us a bunch of used batteries he had just replaced in his own EV,” says Cosgrove.
But the second hand lead has a downside: they probably could have doubled the distance the car could go on a charge if they had bought new.
Rear batteriesThe Metro’s small 48 volt battery pack is a major clue as to how they were able to keep costs so low: Cosgrove and Limburg built the car with ridiculously modest specs. With just eight 6 volt batteries and a motor controller from a golf cart, it’s an understatement to say the electric Metro doesn’t go very fast or very far.
But they say it does just fine as a neighbourhood runabout on the quiet streets of their small city. And by aiming low, they were able to avoid the pricier components and extra batteries needed for a more powerful, highway capable EV.
Their forklift motor driven Metro passed inspection and went on the road a few months ago. Since then it has gone more than 650 kilometers (400 miles) without using a drop of gas… or oil (hey - it was a 16 year old Geo engine after all).
Forklift motor installed on transmissionCosgrove reports a top speed of 65 km/h (40 mph), a range of 15 to 25 km (9 to 15 miles) on a charge, and says it costs about 3 cents per km (4.8 cents per mile) to run on renewably sourced, clean electricity. (For comparison, Limburg figures his gasoline powered compact pickup truck costs 12 cents per km to drive.)
While it’s fair to say the electric Metro’s performance won’t cause any worry over at Tesla Motors, you can also be sure its builders aren’t losing much sleep about car payments either.
Dec 6, 2008
Eco Cars: Ecotricity aims to develop a wind-powered sports car
Eco Factor: Retrofitted Lotus Exige to run on wind power.
Ecotricity is known for harnessing nature and developing systems that provide green and affordable electricity to all. The energy company has now taken up the task to develop a wind-powered car, which would actually be a retrofitted version of the Lotus Exige.
The company’s founder, Dale Vince, states that he and his team are currently working to transform a Lotus Exige couple with no aspect of the car going untouched. The car would contain 96 batteries and it is expected that the car would have a top speed of over a 100mph and would be able to accelerate from standstill to 62mph in about 4 seconds.
Vince desires to preserve the tough looks of the car even after making it more aerodynamic and fuel-efficient. He is also keen to include a transparent rear boot so that the mechanics involved could easily be seen by everyone. The first prototype of the car is expected to be unveiled within the next few months with mass production to follow.
The Dark Side:
The wind-powered sports car would definitely make some heads turn. However, Vince just has to make sure that the cost of the car should not be much more than what one already pays for a sports car.
Via: MotorAuthority
Ecotricity is known for harnessing nature and developing systems that provide green and affordable electricity to all. The energy company has now taken up the task to develop a wind-powered car, which would actually be a retrofitted version of the Lotus Exige.
The company’s founder, Dale Vince, states that he and his team are currently working to transform a Lotus Exige couple with no aspect of the car going untouched. The car would contain 96 batteries and it is expected that the car would have a top speed of over a 100mph and would be able to accelerate from standstill to 62mph in about 4 seconds.
Vince desires to preserve the tough looks of the car even after making it more aerodynamic and fuel-efficient. He is also keen to include a transparent rear boot so that the mechanics involved could easily be seen by everyone. The first prototype of the car is expected to be unveiled within the next few months with mass production to follow.
The Dark Side:
The wind-powered sports car would definitely make some heads turn. However, Vince just has to make sure that the cost of the car should not be much more than what one already pays for a sports car.
Via: MotorAuthority
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