What a year it has been and with so many alternative energy cars out on the market, here is a list of a few we would love to see in our garages. (more…)
December 24, 2008
Alternative Cars We Would Love To Have
October 17, 2008
Don’t Dismiss Lead Acid Batteries Yet
Don’t dismiss lead acid batteries as yesterday’s quaint technology yet, it still has some life left.
The gist, when it comes to electric vehicles, EV and all types of hybrids, HEV they all depend on some sort of energy storage, mainly batteries. While lead acid batteries have been the most commonly used and by far the cheapest, they are not the most powerful. They are also very heavy and don’t offer nearly as much energy per weight as nickel metal hydride, or the famous lithium-ion ones. However, engineers are still working on making lead batteries more efficient and if this article from AdelaideNow is anything to judge from, we should see more developments in this field.
The problem with lead batteries is when they are repeatedly charged and discharged the battery plate, which excites electrons used for the electric vehicle, EV or hybrids, HEV electric motor become coated with deposits lowering their efficiency. The same thing happens with NiHM though not as fast. However, the UltraBattery, developed by Dr Lan Trieu Lam and the CSIRO team, combines the best of both world with lead-acid battery ultracapacitor technology.
Without the battery deposit, it can store energy longer with less degradation and boosts the battery’s life to that of NiMH batteries. In lab tests, the UltraBattery lasted 4 times as long as top of the line lead-acid batteries by producing 50% more power.
We feel the immediate future of battery technology will go through some “hybrid battery” coupling the best of an ultracapacitator and conventional battery wither in the form of lead acid, NiHM or Lithiums. This is the thrid time in a month we hear of breakthroughs in the department and we feel they will power EV at some point in time.
October 4, 2008
Electric Vehicle News, A Week In Review, Part I
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.
August 16, 2008
Electric Vehicle, A Week In Review, Part I
A week in review for electric vehicles, EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrid, PHEV.
Hybrids Too Quiet? Believe it or not, some people are not happy about hybrids and EV being quiet. With increasing news of hybrids surprising pedestrians, some manufacturers have an answer. Make them noisy. Back to square one.
Thanks to this article by IndiaTimes tipping us about breakthroughs in lithium battery technology. The gist, the Franhauser institute is developing new storage modules for a project called Electromobility Fleet Test partnering with BMW and VW who have focused much on hydrogen and little on hybrids. ISIT experts will develop and manufacture lithium accumulators, the IIS team will be responsible for their management and monitoring, and IISB is contributing with power electronics components to configure the accumulator modules expected to be available by mid-2010. This clearly paves the way to use the best of Litium-ion battery technology and ultracapacitators.
GM Volt news, with GM claiming 33,000 already signed up to buy its hybrid vehicle. The gist, 33,411 people signed up showing intent to buy a Volt, leading with California, Texas, Florida and Michigan and potential buyers from 46 other countries.
Hope these tidbits of news electrifies your weekend.