For the enjoyment of your Sunday we bring some interesting news that grabbed our attention this week.
Hot on the trail of battery innovations, this post from our friends at Autoblog Green asks the question: “What does battery technology and microwaved popcorn have in common?” Microwave is the key word here. The gist. By using microwaves to zap a mixture of materials it will produce rod-shaped particles of lithium iron phosphate and points to increased energy capacity which would make it cheaper and help electric vehicles, EV travel farther.
Tesla Roadster or electric Lotus Elise? A Dutch consortium by the name of Electric Cars Europe (Dutch only link) wants to bring the reality of Lotus Elise converted to pure EV which begs to ask, where does Tesla stand in it all? And for those of you who wonder why Lotus just remember the company and its genius owner philosophy that lighter is better at handling and consumption.
Electric Cars Europe (Dutch only link), who are you? This consortium estimate 25% of Dutch traffic will be powered by electricity. Considering Holland is a technological leader in harnessing the power of sea waves and tides, turning into electricity, and let’s not forget the famed windmill, it a country that stands to clearly innovate.
SAM is back, but as CREE and coming back via Poland. Do you remember SAM, the 3-wheeled Swiss Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV)? It was a prototype that has now improved lithium-polymer batteries to give it a longer range, a brushless AC motor, programmable on-board charger and a data logger.
And speaking of Zap cars, the Alias prototype is finally revealed through this video. Sorry Massachussetts, it’s still a three wheeler in an enclosed space. It looks very futuristic and has a Batman Gotham City look to it. But so far, it is only a prototype.