By Ted Berner

GTwildfire

A company called Planar Energy has developed a solid state electrolyte for lithium batteries which is inexpensive to produce and is intended to replace the lest stable liquid electrolytes currently in use. This technology also yields extended capacity–which translates into extended range for EV’s.

It is time for auto makers to wake up and smell the coffee. The point is not just to make the batteries bigger, as Toyota wants to do. And most consumers will not accept recharging measured in hours. The Electric Vehicle is not a fad, worthy of planned obsolescence or strategic retirement. It’s time to jump in with both feet–they’re designing advanced vehicles, so they might as well make sure the battery technology is advanced enough to make the best of them. A battery that packed more punch would go a long way to increase the marketability of cars like the Volt and the Leaf, whose paltry ranges barely give you enough for an afternoon’s worth of errands. Read more about the new battery technology here.

By Ted Berner

GTwildfire

Toyota has revealed plans to make a non-hybrid, all-electric Prius available in 2012, and will also be rolling out other Toyota EV models in pretty significant numbers. The Prius should offer a more cost-effective option for those ready to take the plunge, edging out the Leaf and easily underbidding GM’s Volt with a pricetag around $28,000. This is good news for the advancement of electric cars, efficiency and energy independence.

However, in the press release on the announcement, Toyota’s product development chief was quoted as saying that “Over time, we would like to offer consumers the option of paying more for a bigger battery and longer range, but that won’t be possible with the first version.” I guess that’s the future of battery technology at Toyota in a nutshell? Bigger + heavier = farther? And you have to pay more for it? The lack of room for thinking about better battery technology in his revelation alone managed to curb my enthusiasm, but battery issues aside, I’m looking forward to Toyota’s new lineup. No doubt the next generation of EV garage modders will again be improving on Toyota’s design.

Credit to Kevin Krolicki and Reuters for this informative article.

By Matt Wellumson

Neuwerks

A couple of weekends ago I got a call form a close friend who shares a love for European cars, and is also a moderator of a large site devoted to the VW Passat. At the time I was working at a friends local Audi Shop, and I had a strange question asked me when I answered my phone. “Hey I got a Tesla for the day, Wanna go for a ride?”  Who would say no to that??

Continue reading "Riding in the Electric Lotus" »

By Ted Berner

GTwildfire

A Los Angeles-based Company, run by Roberto Velozzi, has partnered with Bayer Material Science (yes, the Aspirin people), Capstone Turbine Corporation, and other substantial companies to create a supercar, but with a twist or more appropriately a spin… one hell of a spin. The car will use a microturbine driving a generator to convert biodiesel or numerous other fuels to power an electric drive system that would make Jay Leno giddy. Performance specs are 770 HP, 0-60 in 3 seconds and a top speed of over 200 MPH. The first 200 miles of driving would be on electric power, and extended range would be 1000 miles using onboard generation.

However, I have some healthy skepticism reporting on the Velozzi concept, which is just one in a sea of similar boutique EV’s that never seem to materialize. Quite some time ago I posted about the Lightning GT, an electric supercar in the works by an upstart British automaker, which boasted similar performance specs. We’re still waiting for that one to hit the market.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I always love a good homebrew electric car. This Eclipse claims to get only 15-40 miles on a charge (depending on how you drive), but that’d be enough to get me to work and back. Almost. Actually, not really. Check out the auction, and thanks to Idefix for the tip!

By Ted Berner

GTwildfire

There’s all kinds of nutty little Gyro Gearloose guys building homemade EV’s in their garages. This guy’s spoof on that format is pretty hilarious. I’d love to see his commute…

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Back at the beginning of the 80′s, Ford set out to build a true “World Car”–the Escort–a version of which was to appear on every continent on Earth, making it a global vehicle in a way that hadn’t been earnestly attempted since the Model T. Though I continue to drive a Ford Escort (or two) just about every day, I’d sure never driven an electric car. But with its new global electrification strategy, the next-gen Focus already billed as the company’s next “World Car,” and the all-new electric Focus spearheading its varied fleet of battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, Ford is embarking on something far more ambitious than the last world-car effort.

But forget about world domination for a second–let’s talk about the car. On the road, I found the all-electric Focus to be a total darling. Continue reading…

Continue reading "Ford’s Electric Future" »

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

Who knew that the Tesla was capable of creating the needed 1.2 gigawatts of electricity needed for time travel? If any vehicles out there today are capable of zipping back to the future, I’d say the Tesla takes the historic pie. Do you think a Tesla can reach 88 mph within such a short distance? Read more about the Tesla Dr. Emmett Brown would be jealous of at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Chris Bicknell

Bick66

Chevrolet announced yesterday that the Volt will come standard with an 8 year/100,000 mile battery warranty, giving it the longest battery warranty of any electric vehicle. The Volt’s battery cells, modules and packs have endured more than one million miles and four million hours of testing since 2007 and now GM engineers are willing to stand behind their product with confidence. Read more at chevroletvoltage.com, via Chevrolet Volt’s facebook page.

By Ted Berner

GTwildfire

I have commented about Nano Titanate Lithium battery technology and blogged about EVs. I don’t think that “planned obsolescence” has a place in the EV market or any market for that matter. If you have a best idea, use it. If there’s something, some technology out there that’s available and obviously better than what you’re planning to use – and will make an insanely huge improvement in your product – Why not use it? If I scratched my head starting right now for every time auto makers left me scratching my head, I’d be scratching my skull when finished.

With that said here are two articles. The first is a bus demonstration for Washington politicians. The demonstrator bus drives 2.5 hours on a 5 minute charge.

The second article is recent publicity from a well-known EV manufacturer. I’m not going to mention them by name because they represent the status quo for most production or production-bound EV development, and this is the direction they’re taking with respect to powering their vehicles.

I know and respect that some of you hate the idea of electric vehicles and probably would never own one. There are many more that would, however. It stands to reason that the transition to an electric car would not involve planning for the next day by plugging in or any other concessions. Using one, as a requirement by John Q. Public MUST involve fast (and I mean 10 minutes or less) recharges resulting in a range similar to that of a gasoline-burning rival in the marketplace, period.

Not buying gas? Great for some. Not taking hours to recharge? Great for most. Why don’t they get it?