Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Electrics in the Pipeline

These are exciting times for electric vehicles. Major auto manufacturers are refining plug-in systems and testing them in fleets.

Toyota has announced that it will sell plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEV) in the US in 2010.

Tony Posawatz, Vehicle Line Director for the Chevy Volt says that though "we haven't said exactly when the Chevy Volt will come to market, we've set our internal targets to complete the vehicle by the end of 2010."

Today Tesla Motors opened a new showroom for their 100% electric cars, & the cars are now in production.

Manufacturers are talking with Utility companies to be sure that the path is ready for cars to be plugged into the electric grid. There are many interesting prospects here:
  • Intelligent electric meters (already in development) will give lower rates during low power demand periods -when most people will plug in their PHEVs.
  • Possible the electrical grid (and customers like you and me) could benefit from selling power from the hybrid's electrical system back to the utility.
Later I'll have some news from the Plug-in Conference held in Silicon Valley this week.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Plug-In Hybrid Conversion Alert

Less than a month ago a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) caught fire and was destroyed. No one was hurt. The vehicle was a Toyota Prius with an after-market conversion to make the Prius a PHEV. The maker of the conversion kit (Hybrids Plus, of Boulder, CO) and several other organizations are investigating.

Hybrids Plus said, "After the incident we notified all owners of Hybrids Plus conversions, described to them the sequence of events in the incident, advising them not to drive until further information was available, and to call Hybrids Plus if there was any sign of a problem with their vehicle.

Over the past week we have conducted two extensive forensic examinations of the vehicle and of the battery pack using a team of experts that included Hybrids Plus technical staff, our cell manufacturer, and experts in electric vehicles." Read the complete statement.

This report from CRN (Cooperative Research Network, A Service of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association):

On June 7, 2008, the converted Prius plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) owned by Central Electric Power Cooperative in Columbia, SC, was destroyed by an internal fire that occurred during a routine drive. Thankfully, there were no injuries. But the converted Prius was destroyed. The cause of the fire is not known.

Until further investigation, CRN has advised grounding all test vehicles in the PHEV demonstration and is undertaking a detailed investigation. CRN has employed Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (ETEC) of Phoenix, AZ, to perform an initial investigation on the PHEV. This firm has come highly recommended due to its experience with failure analysis and electric cars. The firm will work to determine the cause of the fire and make recommendations if more specialized forensics experts are needed to complete the investigation. The six other vehicles in CRN’s PHEV demonstration program have experienced only minor technical issues to date.

General Motors is expects to have the first OEM Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle available in 2010.
Read Toyota's perspective on the challenges of commercially viable OEM PHEV's.

The PHEV has a lot of promise, and it's good to know that studies are being made to learn how to use this exciting technology in a safe manner.





Thursday, July 3, 2008

Straight Vegetable Oil Fuel Running Afoul of Law?


In 1895, when Rudolf Diesel invented the diesel engine, it could run on variety of fuels-even vegetable oil! Bio diesel is becoming increasingly popular, with more stations around the nation having it available at the pump.


Some people, are installing conversion kits (www.greasecar.com), & using SVO-straight vegetable oil, which they pick up from restaurants. It seems like a win-win situation, waste is put to use, the restaurant saves money on disposal, and the driver saves money on fuel.

However the US Environmental Protection Agency is raising concerns about not having tested the vehicles or fuel. On top of this, some government agencies are worried about losing out on tax revenue. Hmmm. What do you think about this?