Electric Cars Going Mainstream This Year

Nissan & Chevy are just now beginning delivery of their electric cars.

An electric car had actually been introduced at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair by Ferdinand Porsche. The car broke speed records and had a range of about 30 miles. Later he combined the electric drive with an internal combustion engine, creating the "System Mixt." a gasoline-electric hybrid that broke more records. A century later the first electric-gas hybrid vehicle was introduced to the US in 1999 by Honda with it’s Insight, followed the very next year by Toyota’s Prius.

Some consumers had expressed “range anxiety” about electric cars. “Range Anxiety” is the concern that an electric vehicle will run out of power with no recharger nearby, or that the driver may need to wait hours to recharge away from home.

How is Range Anxiety being addressed?

1. More EV charging stations.

There are three levels of EV chargers. Level 1 and 2 power the internal charger.

• Level 1: 120 volts & charges in 11 hours.
• Level 2: 240 volts & charges in 6 hours.
• Level 3: 480 volts in under 30 min.

The Nissan Leaf can take all three levels. The GM-Volt can take level 1 and 2.

How do you find a EV charging station?

• EV Charger Maps On-line
• EV Charger Finder – Yes, there’s an app for that, and as of December 2010, it’s free!

2. The EV batteries have increased capacity.

The Nissan Leaf website says that “depending on the conditions, when your battery is new your range may vary anywhere from 138 - 62 miles.” For the majority of drivers, that battery capacity will handle the commute to and from work with stops for shopping, even without charging.

3. EV with gasoline engine - a safety-net

The GM Volt’s approach is all-electric power to wheels with a small internal combustion engine that GM calls an “emergency generator” to the batteries. Since the battery-only range is about 25-50 miles (depending on conditions) , the gasoline engine can increase the range to about 400 miles.

4. Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV)

PHEVs have the ability to drive on batteries only, after charging, with a full-size engine that can be used after the batteries are depleted. They will be coming to Ford, Toyota, Volvo and Peugeot showrooms in 2012, with BMW, Mitsubishi, and Volkswagen in 2013.

Google has tracked a fleet of Hybrid and PHEV vehciles for two years, getting over 100 mpg in the city. See the details.

5. Swappable batteries

Drivers go to a “switch station” which swaps their low batteries for a fully charged ones. The swap is faster than refuelling at a gas station. Will auto manufacturers standardize their batteries and access?

Much of the innovation is coming from Silicon Valley, and we look forward to reporting it. Please send insights and news items to holser@futurecars.us.

As published by Larry Holser on Examiner.com

Walgreen's Pharmacy Offering EV Charging Stations

The Walgreens pharmacy chain will offer rapid-charging EV stations at 18 Houston-area stores next year, through a partnership with power utility NRG Energy.

NRG's eVgo Network will initially include over 100 charging stations and cost NRG about $10 million. The eVgo Network will be rolled out in early 2011 throughout Houston and Harris County,Texas.

The eVgo network will include both Level 2 chargers, which generally take four hours to recharge EV batteries to full charge, and DC rapid chargers, which can charge an EV in about 30 minutes.

Honda Presents Plug-in Hybrid at LA Auto Show

Honda's platform's lithium-Ion battery, plug-in capability, hybrid function and petrol combustion engine to provide clean performance. See the video of the Honda Plug-in Hybrid platform HERE:

Hard Economic Realities for Hybrids

Bloomberg.com, after interviews and research has brought some harsh realities of the market & economics of hybrids. I personally own a hybrid (Toyota Highlander), and am usually positive in my reports, but to honestly report reality, I have to report the research and expert interviews.

Bloomberg quotes a J.D. Powers Director of Forecasting:

At some point, the reality is that for this technology to be accepted, it needs to be done without a government crutch,” said Jeff Schuster, director of forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates in Troy, Michigan. “But without a huge gas-price increase or further government demand, the natural demand just isn’t to be there.

J.D. Power also reports "Global sales of hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars are projected to be 954,500 vehicles, or 2.2 percent of the 44.7 million passenger vehicles projected to be sold this year, J.D. Power said in an Oct. 27 report. That may rise to 5.2 million units in 2020..."

Others interviewed in the article were concerned that government subsidies seem to be needed to make economic sense for consumers. The article states that "The government purchased about 64 percent of GM’s Chevy Malibu hybrid models and 29 percent of all Ford Fusion hybrids manufactured since Obama took office in 2009, the data show. GM stopped making the Malibu hybrid in 2009 after lack of consumer demand."

Bloomberg.com also quotes Dan Becker, Director of the Safe Climate Campaign with a positive view of the US government's alternative fuel vehicle purchases:
“At a time when we’re just beginning the era of the hybrid, it’s a positive sign that the government is stepping up to the plate and helping build that market.”

The article states that the Obama administration is promising over $11 billion in taxpayer funds to develop plug-in hybrid vehicles.

ATT Fleet To Increase Alternative Vehicles

AT&T plans to purchase 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles over next 10 years. The purchases will include hybrid and compressed natural gas (CNG).

See the AT&T video HERE:

First Chevy Volt Rolls off Assembly Line

The first 2011 Chevrolet Volt rolled off the assembly line in Hamtramck, Michigan, on Monday.

Earlier cars were made in limited numbers at other GM locations. Some have been seen at auto shows. One quarter of th cars have been used for crash tests so far, and the remaining ones have logged well over half a million collective miles of testing. VIDEO: Test Drive of the Volt (Wall Street Journal)

Ford Announces Electric Vehicle Strategy

Ford’s global electrification strategy includes plans to produce five full electric or hybrid vehicles in the compact, midsize and light commercial segments for the North American market by 2012 and European markets by 2013.

Specifically, Ford will launch two zero-emission all-electric vehicles including the Transit Connect Electric light commercial vehicle in North America in late 2010 and in Europe in 2011, followed by the Focus Electric in North America in 2011 and Europe in 2012. Three other yet-to-be-named vehicles – including two next-generation hybrid electric vehicles and a plug-in hybrid vehicle – will follow in North America in 2012 and Europe in 2013.

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.