It’s interesting how one news attracts many other. Since the much publicized “unveiling” of GM’s Volt to the public, Dodge soon followed with their electric vehicle, EV plans, then Ford talked about the eventual upcoming plug-in hybrid, PHEV Escape and now Mitsubishi is beating everyone with the first mass-produced EV on the road. Fascinating snowball affect which should prove that the tipping point is well past now.
Hybrid Batteries. Here is something we are particularly interested in, new technologies and development in the battery field. We’ve talked a lot about batteries and the promise of ultracapacitators. Here are some developments which will have big repercussions for EVs. The gist, the Japanese battery company Furukawa is working with US battery manufacturer East Penn to develop what we consider the future of battery technology. It is a hybrid lead-acid battery and capacitor that uses the lead-acid battery most of the time and uses the capacitor charged for extra boost of energy. They will last much longer than the regular lead-acid battery and will be 70% cheaper than the nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries. Thanks EcoGeek.
Rent a car for the hour. We had previously mentioned how Enteprise was introducing a special hybrid rental branch to its business, now you can also use their WeCar(TM), a car sharing program from Enterprise Rent-A-Car nationwide, according to MarketWatch.
Scotland tames its sea. So many countries are jumping on harnessing their natural resources in an effort to ween themselves off of petroleum. Scotland’ ScottishPower Renewables will turn their aquatic power into clean electricity, according to EcoGeek.
Electric DeLorean? Why not. Car collectors are incurable. DeLorean collectors can tell you a few things about it. So converting a DeLorean to electricity, is it sacriledge? It’s no secret DeLorean had a very limited choice of engines when it settled for the under-performing PVC. Swapping it out for an electric one might finally reveal the car’s natural capacity. The numbers, sporting a WarP 9 electric engine with 13, 12 volt 100 amp-hour deep cycle Deka 9A31 Intimidator AGM batteries, it has a 40-mile range and recharge in 8 hours from a standard wall plug or 2-3 hours from a 220-volt outlet. It’s current bid is at $17,875.00 and the converter-owner is optimistically hoping for $100,000 buy-it-now price.
Suzlon Invests $5 Billion In China and India. The Indian wind turbine maker Suzlon Energy will build 3.5 gigawatts of renewable electricity infrastructure around Asia. This should help the ever increase power demand of India and China.
There you go until tomorrow for news in review.