ECOSharbinger

Welcome a new edition to the electric vehicle, EV world, the ECOS Harbinger.

The gist is that it is always nice to welcome a new edition into the EV world, and the ECOS Harbinger promises fun solid performance.  But who is ECOS anyway?

ECOS Harbinger.  ECOS is an electric car conversion shop located in Springfield, Missouri, U.S. that restores old VW BEetles and sells EVs parts to do it yourself converters.  Their price range varies from $12,500 to $26,000 +, their latest offering, the Harbinger is a turnkey built up $89,995 EV.

Technically Speaking.  The Harbinger boasts good numbers with an electronically limited 117 mph and 0 to 60 mph in 5 seconds.  According to PopSci, the body is made of carbon-kevlar composite and the chassis is an aluminum frame.  The electric motor is a 11″ diameter Netgain DC motor powered by a 30kW LiFeP04 lithium battery pack that gives an honorable 150-mile range.  The car has a 4 speed manual transmission. Using EVInstruments’ MiMod™EV, the car allows you to keep a close look on performance and energy consumption.

While the production will start around February 2010, you can already put your money down and reserve one.

ECOS Harbinger

What’s next for ECOS? An electric Jeep type good for $24,995.

Final thoughts?  It is good to see shops developing and selling efficient performance cars.  As far as the looks?  It should not fail to attract a few.  With its Italian Ghandini and Guigiaro lines, the performance match the design.

ECOS Harbinger

The gist, ever wonder why Lotus has been used as a starting point for the Tesla Roadster and now the Dodge EV?  It makes perfect sense.  Lotus builds small, light and power cars, making them easy platforms for performance.  They are a natural for either an EV conversion or the base for a new one, as the above mentioned EV makers.

Tesla or Dodge? Short of the financial difference between both, they share the same platform, albeit modified in the case of Tesla, Dodge’s EV seems to be a re-badged and converted version of the Lotus Europa S (the bigger version of the Elise).  Nonetheless, there are differences.  If the Tesla Roadster uses a 184 kilowatt electric engine which puts out 200 pound feet of torque with 248 hp, the Dodge EV also uses the same battery technology but has a 200 kilowatt electric motor that produces 268 hp with an improved 480 pound-feet of torque.  A substantial weight increase for the Dodge makes it slower than the Tesla but might make it the only real competition to the Roadster, especially considering the financial aspect.

Electric Lotus? The question still remains, will Lotus come up with a electrc Elise?  It is apprently a winning platform but maybe Lotus has signed a non-competing agreement with other manufactures. Who knows?

Come to think of it, this Dodge EV will up the ante more than suspected.  Post source, CNET.

The gist, we previously covered the amazing Eliica here with its 8 wheels of added traction and load balancing.  Indeed, why settle for 4 when you can use 8 and shove electric engines in them?  If you ever wanted to see what it looked like, here are a few videos available on YouTube we tracked down for you.  Until we find an English version, you will have to do with the Japanese and Spanish parts in it.

part 1

Part 1 introduces the brains behind the project and their trials, such as how to fit 60hp engines behind each wheels under 18cm, slightly over 7″.  By packing very densely the copper wires on the engine’s coils, they produce 80hp per wheels in order to take the car to the destined 400km/h, 248.5 mph.

Here is part 2.

As you can see,

Part 3,

Part 4,

Part 5,

And if you are still not convinced EV offer superior performance than their gasoline counterparts, how about pitting the Eliica to a Porsche 911 Turbo?

Now you know Ferdinand Porsche was more than the current Porsche gas technology we have.  Porsche is not only accredited with inventing the first hybrid in 1898 and also the first in wheel electric engine.  The only car manufacturer that has shown interest so far is Mitsubishi.

This project is not only revolutionary when it comes to ultra high performance EV but it also embodies the spirit of modern electric propulsion development.  All of this is done without main stream auto manufacturers involved since they have shown little interest in it.  This also proves modern electric engines and battery technology in vehicles are light years away from their humble origin, more than a hundred years ago.

What is it? An EV that will launch you from a standing quarter mile in 11.5 seconds, make fun of Porsches and Ferraris and only consume 170 mpg estimated at 200Whr/mile for city driving based on 33,705 Watt-hours per gallon of gasoline according to Wrightspeed.  But is is not a production, nor will it be.  Too bad.  But wait!  The X1 production will be and will be much better  Good!

How does it work? Using state-of-the-art all around technology powered by a 3-phase AC induction motor delivering 236 HP, using a Lithium Ion battery pack that charge takes about 1.25 hours using 220Volt supply.  A chassis by Ariel from Ariel Motors, that is hailed as one quickest and lightest one on the road. 

What’s in the future? Ian Wright, the person behind the Wrightspeed project, is looking for additional investors to meet the $8 million budget expected for a consumer version with 100 mile range, 4.5 hour charging period and meeting US Federal safety standards.  You can read more about here where you can actually see a video of the EV, and here from our friends at TreeHugger.com.

Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus, and it’s electrifying fast!  Clearly another company to watch out for that works to change the false based belief that electric cars are not performers.