A dumptruck-load of iron for a wind turbine will provide energy for more than 100 years: now Caterpillar will dig it up with a giant EV
While it's not the pleasantest prospect for a treehugger like me to dwell on, there is stuff we need to dig out of the earth, even to build the clean power economy.
I am not thinking here of tar-sands, oil or coal, because we can substitute clean power for these environmental disasters.
But to put solar panels on more roofs, we need to mine silicon. To build the batteries to run an electric vehicle nation we will need to mine lithium. To build more wind turbines we need...you get the picture.
Initially at least, to build turbines and solar panels, the raw materials like steel and silicon needed to make clean energy are dug out of the earth, just like the dirty energy supplies of fossil fuels like oil and coal.
The huge difference is that a dumptruck-load of steel for a wind turbine will provide energy for more than 100 years, but a dumptruck-load of tar-sand, coal or oil will just goes up in smoke in a few hours.
Making mining eco-friendlier is going to be part of a carbon-neutral world. In response to this need, this week at the Nevada mining truck expo, Caterpillar is unveiling a 345 ton all-electric-power mining truck, the worlds largest EV to date.
It will go into production in 2010. They will also display another one at a mere 250 tons, presumably for moving smaller vast piles of dirt, that one will be available in either electric or combustion engine options. 80 year old Caterpillar has a corner on this market: no other manufacturer is attempting to build mining trucks over 200 tons with an electric motor rather than using the 100 year old internal combustion engine. That may have something to do with Caterpillar joining the carbon-responsible industry group USCAP.
In the late 1960s Caterpillar was one of the first manufacturers to try electric-drive trucks but abandoned that line of vehicles with the end of the Age Of Aquarius, but now that we are counting our carbon emissions, Caterpillar has opted for a building a climate friendlier mining industry.
Frequently wind's greatest potential is out where people don't live (they don't live there because it's too windy) but there is still mining to be done there. Solar is best where the solar radiation is so intense that there's now evaporated seas-full of lithium that will need to be mined there to run all our EVs. Think of the salt deposits of Nevada.
But what if an industrial scale solar or wind farm in those areas supplied the charging power for electric mining trucks. I wonder how much this would reduce at least the carbon costs of mining?
Cradle-to-cradle featherweight Dutch EV van gets 90 miles per charge and goes to 75 MPH
Here's another European EV we should be watching, now that GM's chairman has tipped us off on the inside dope (I'm hoping) on government plans to tear down the NHTSA wall that prevents us from having access to all the carbon neutral driving options popping up under ECE rules.
The QUICC! DiVa (which started life as the much easier to remember InnoVan) makes its debut at the Paris show in October.
This featherweight utility van EV meets cradle-to-cradle sustainability requirements, and being made of lightweight recycled plastic, weighs in at under 1,900 pounds, including its batteries. It has a range of 90 miles on a charge and is able to reach 75 mph. It can carry 1,300 lbs in addition to two passengers.
So its no wonder that the sustainable InnoVan (sorry: the Quicc! DiVa) just won the "Most Promising Technology" award with millions of euros in investment capital from Econcern. There are already customers lined up for the limited edition next Spring, and it has attracted the attention of Johann Tomforde, the designer who made the Smart so clever, who will help sharpen up the design a bit before it goes into mass production in 2010. I'm hoping he'll take care of those dorky looking lights.
DuraCar's Guido Boosten says that they want to test even lighterweight cradle-to-cradle plastic options and different batteries in this test run including the safer and more durable LiFePO4, saying that the most important thing right now was to get the vehicles on the road and experience what happens in real life, rather than just do lab testing.
LiFePo4 batteries provide full power until they are completely discharged. The batteries recharge in less time and the chemistry is also more environmentally friendly. In electric vehicles and plug-in electric cars, they will typically last for 6 to 7 years, will not catch fire or explode with overcharging, and can safely be fully recharged in 15 minutes.
A123 Systems has teamed up with GM to develop these batteries for the Chevy Volt, and Lithium Technology Corporation has been working with GM, Toyota and U. C. Davis to develop them for all-electric and hybrid vehicles.
Miles expands to Montana and ZAP moves to Kentucky: NEV sales surge, and better yet...
Like most new startup companies, Miles EV is headquartered in a "Green" state: one that promotes innovation in the new green economy.
Miles is one of several EV startups in California. It builds neighborhood electric vehicles: speed-limited to 25 mph, for customers like NASA, UCLA and CalState Polytech.
With $4 a gallon gas, even in "Brown" states, people are more open to the idea of EVs, even if just for economic motivations. One guy got local laws changed so he could drive an actual golf-cart on city streets. The one he bought 20 years ago for $300 can get 20 miles on an overnight charge.
When ZAP moved to Kentucky their sales doubled: to $737,000 for August. Kentucky was a "Brown" state. There's plenty of little NEVs already zapping around my neighborhood Berkeley in "Green" California. Small eco businesses like flower deliveries and solar installers seem to like their ZAP truck.
And when eco businesses locate in "Brown" States, it expands eco-awareness beyond the few Berkeleys of the nation. This expands their markets.
But it also has another even more important effect. It adds "Green" Senators in "Brown" states. It is natural that congress members represent the business interests of their constituents.
Until we change the interests of the "Brown" state Senators who prevent all green legislation from passing, we will not make any headway with extending production tax credits for solar and wind power or promoting EV development. The fewer fossil-fueled Senators we have, the better our eco-legislation will be.
So. Got a green business? Move it to a "Brown" State. A state run by fossil fuel businesses.
Elon Musk, Tesla's Guru mulls the next move: lots of tree-huggers will be very happy to hear of his EV plans!
AutoblogGreen brings exciting news today about the next step for the California startup that shook up the auto industry with its successful launch this Spring of the all electric Tesla Roadster. But since none of us can actually afford that, we wait with baited breath to hear of the possible next steps for the company. Here it is.
Elon Musk, Tesla's founder, who also funded the beginning of SolarCity was musing about a possible SUV, for possibly as little as $20,000, to be built in conjunction with a major automaker, or as he put it: "confident in being able to get to a $30,000 car, or perhaps a $20,000 car, in partnership with a major car company," which may or may not be Daimler: after all Tesla is supplying the batteries for Daimlers EV, the Smart.
Their next-generation WhiteStar, now called the Model-S, was to be around $50,000. Musk said:"Tesla's partnership with Daimler won't focus on its Model S". Tesla always said that they were planning on a $50,000 vehicle next after the Roadster, that would be able to get into the $20,000 - $30,000 range.
It appears that Musk is thinking ahead, talking about this third iteration.
Interestingly, he mentioned the possibility of swappable batteries, a la Better Place. This is not the mainstream direction being taken in the budding EV industry. FastCharge technologies, (where consumers could slow charge at home while they sleep, like with a cell phone, but have the option to go to the FastCharge station for a quick top-up) is favored by more companies, for instance Mitsubishi and Subaru for their iMiEV and R4e and Daimler, for their Smart.
The third charging option EV companies are considering is GM's innovative onboard recharging that they are pioneering with their Volt - and previously Tesla had floated that idea for their WhiteStar Model-S. So the meaning of this Better Place battery-swap idea is very interesting to consider: maybe GM is struggling with the recharger? Maybe last month's huge Smart FastCharging test in Berlin didn't pan out? In any totally new technology there will be gremlins. We may be surprised by which technology becomes the standard.
While AutoblogGreen rather sneers at this idea of an SUV as an EV, I found when I hosted the SFEVA booth at the Marin Ecofest last year, that it was, surprisingly, precisely the very eco minded moms with their wet sandy-footed tousle-haired kids returning from the beach with two giant wet dogs in the back that most adored the saved RAV4 SUV EV we had showing at our booth.
UCBerkeley's PATH innovation will bring us driverless buses for speed and a more efficient use of available space on roadways
The innovative UC Berkeley PATH team partly funded by DARPA, has successfully tested their automated magnetic guidance system to speed up bus systems and the traffic around them.
Bus drivers would still decide when to go faster or slower, and could take full control at any time, but otherwise their route would be fully automated - so it's completely predictable by other drivers.
No more of that holding up everyone behind you while you hang about behind a bus wondering if it's really going to finally pull into your lane or not.
This magnetic guidance comprises a simple two-part system: a series of magnetic markers embedded in the center of the lane, and sensors and processing units in the vehicle passing over them, that read and act on the information.
This very clever bus only takes a second to read and obey all these traffic condition inputs from the markers even at 60 miles an hour. None of all that indecisive dithering like with you and me driving.
As the bus travels, a bar underneath scans each magnetic field and feeds information to an on board computer, telling the bus where to go and when to pull up at each stop.
Magnetic guidance would reduce the time needed to load and unload passengers at every stop, which makes the route almost as predictable as a subway system. Such precision would also enable roads to allow more lanes as each lane can be safely narrowed. The San Leandro test bus was able to land exactly on its marked target just a centimeter from the curb.
These researchers have been studying magnetic guidance systems as a means of controlling vehicle movement for almost 20 years. More interestingly, for a nation that depends on individual transportation, they are also looking at how magnets could control groups of cars together so they can be automated while traveling crowded highways.
Automating the bus system on the roads that we already have would cost only about $278 million for Berkeley, compared with billions for putting in comparable stretches of rail through this area.
A pneumatic entrant for the XPrize is made from the polymer that cushioned NASA's rovers in soft Mars landing
Not only is this thing safe flying over cliffs, but it will also be able to float through all our flooded cities. And I do see more floods in our future, don't you?
Once the XPCar succeeds in winning the X-Prize this year - and it's certainly got my vote - it will be easier for this outside-the-box startup to get the millions of dollars in funding it needs to turn out what will be a very affordable and practical car. Once in production, because of the novel construction (think blowup) it will probably achieve its target of under $10,000.
This is essentially a giant airbag around you, of course cushioned way down in there is the metal chassis and all those parts needed to keep everything moving along that you would want to be made in metal. But all those parts that don't have to be metal, the're not.
And that makes it super safe for those of us who don't drive as well as we might. Even the steering column is not some hard metal thing that will poke you in the chest like they do now in the event of a crash, because the steering wheel is center mounted on the console and swings out of the way in a crash.
Most of us know that its actually all that metal in cars that is mainly responsible for killing and huting you in crashes. The shrapnel, body compression immobility, lung compression, dismemberment and other serious results of a crash are most often caused by the inflexibility of metal and the permanent deformation of the body of the metal car around or into your body. None of that with this car.
XP Car says it should take two average adults with a high school education, under two hours to inflate and unpack the vehicle. Should you and your friend lack this educational milestone, XP also envisions distribution centers and maybe even stores like Sears or Costco would pick up lots of these flat and assemble them for you, and be responsible for declaring these legal. Come to think of it, perhaps that's a better idea anyway. Your Masters degree is not going to change those closed minds at the DMV when you try and register this thing you put together two hours ago.
These will be electric cars, powered by batteries, fuel cell and combinations of both, capable of speeds up to 120 mph. Of course they will take all your gear, and include your cupholder, your iPod mount and so on, everything you come to expect in a car. Oh, you don't have iPod mounts in your car? Well lets hope the XPrize judges see what I see in the car from Mars.
In the largest fieldtest to date, the German electric utility RWE is teaming up with Daimler to test EV charging aparatus with 100 Smart electric test vehicles driving around Berlin today. RWE will be installing 500 such charging station around Berlin, at workplaces and in public parking areas, but also, in an unusual development, at customers homes.
To pay the utility for electrons there will be an automated exchange of data between a special in-car communication system and the intelligent electricity charging points providing effective, customer friendly and convenient everyday operation.
Automatic fastcharge stations like these being developed by RWE or those developed by Coulomb Technologies here in the US will be an important part of EV deployment. Many EVs are coming by 2010, as we end the age of oil. Increasingly, charging station infrastructure is under development worldwide. Utilities are finding that EVs can contribute to grid stability.
Like PG&E in California last year with its testing of a Prius plug-in hybrid, the German utility RWE is interested in vehicle-to-grid integration: having the on-board lithium-ion packs able to store surplus electricity when demand is low and able to feed it back in the network when demand is high.
V2G is an excellent way to ensure base load storage for solar and wind power, and both Germany and California are adding more renewables into their energy mix.
Daimler's electric vehicles will be powered by lithium-ion batteries developed by Tesla Motors, the California startup that bought the EV back from the dead with this years Roadster, widely credited with galvanizing GMs development of the Volt.
Because Chrysler's GEM division is already making a neighborhood EV, and because they have obviously invested in designing this entirely new model that learns from the wind tunneling done by Mitsubishi for their iMiEV, and because of the gorgeousness of the resulting design, I think that this is one EV that we will actually get, and lots of them.
GEM's old GEM had always looked so tiresomely fuddyduddy-ish at the Global Electric...yawn... Motors site, that whenever I'd mention it online, rather than link to there, I would drag out one of these pictures to show what was actually so bare-bones cool about it: Simran Sethi, the Treehugger journalist roughing it on a windfarm or this hopped up version at Pismo Beach.
True, like all neighborhood electric vehicles, the GEM was going to take a serious hunk out of your day to get anywhere far at that speed limited 25 mph, but for just around town? Just fine.
While it was clearly a neglected corner of Chrysler's business, I had started seeing more of them around my neighborhood anyway, at the farmers market and even zipping along at what must have been a souped up 40 mph --with oh, dear; no sides!
So what good news it is that Chrysler has also shaken off some of its cobwebs and taken a new look at its old GEM brand and seen it for the gem it really can be.
So, now that division is not called (ho hum) Global Electric Motors any more - its now GreenEcoMobility! and unlike the poor GEM the new car they make actually gets its own name: the iPod-like peaPod! and even one of those new fangled singing website thingies!
Some real marketing has gone into this. And indeed you can plug in your iPod and be generally catered to like the discerning and hip green customer you really are!
Just look at the gorgeous new design of the Peapod compared with these other Chrysler vehicles that Chrysler claims will be EVs in a trice, two: RE-EVs like the Volt, (electric vehicles with sensible little range-extenders), and the sportscar, why, it will go just as fast and as far as the Tesla Roadster, just like that.
Both in attention to design and in size, the Peapod is much more like the French design firm Venturi's Eclectic than the old GEM: like the Eclectic it is simply huge: compare it to this sportscar from Chrysler.
There is something reassuring about that solidity and spaciousness in a zero emissions EV. But next they should pop in G.M.'s range-extender from the Volt, to get the kids to the beach and home, and that's how GEM will be reborn as GreenEcoMobility.
Could just 2 EV delivery-trucks be making the difference? Britain's CO2 emissions from vehicles have gone down by 45 percent since 1999 when they signed Kyoto.
And this year, British car manufacturers have cut average CO2 emissions by their biggest ever yearly margin: according to the ninth annual report put out by the British Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders they cut new vehicle emissions 4 percent since last year.
At that rate the British auto industry is doing much better than the nation as a whole in carbon emissions reductions to meet Kyoto. The environment secretary told the UK Guardian that carbon emissions were down 2 percent from 2006.
Could two British companies be making the difference? Modec and Smith Electric Vehicles build EVs for the delivery market, replacing heavy gas guzzlers. They represent a larger percentage of the relatively "small pond" that makes up the British auto industry.
Both companies showed here at the Anaheim EV show at the beginning of the year.
Two supermarket chains in the UK now deliver groceries in their electric trucks. Smith Electric Vehicles delivers Sainsbury's groceries with its nine ton Edison van, and Modec supplies the very green grocery store chain Tesco.
Under the 2008 energy bill as finally passed here in the US, the electric vans that both these companies make will now be eligible for sizable tax credits here.
These credits would amount to $10,000 for both Modec's midweight vans and Smith's full range of vans. Their largest is 12 tons. Larger electric vehicles now qualify for a $15,000 EV credit, beginning right at 13 tons --or 26,000 lbs.
These two EV companies could help us reduce our "car"bon footprint too. Stay tuned.
200 EV charging stations will be installed in Tokyo in 2009 at a cost of $36,500 each, including construction expenses. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has developed a quick-charging system that allows an electric car to run 25 miles on a five-minute charge and 37 miles on a 10-minute charge. They will begin with 200 and ramp up to 1,000 by 2012. With both Mitsubishi's iMiEV and Subaru's R1e due out in 2009 in Japan, not a moment too soon.
An important element of charging stations is utility grid management – Coulomb also has that in the bag with their management technology, making the start-up company a sort of one-stop shop for EV charging infrastructure. San Jose, a city that loves its technology, will be able to take advantage of Coulomb’s wireless communication capabilities for charging stations, management of mesh networks to authenticate users, and management of energy flow and metering. The folks involved in using and working with the stations could access GPS-lined data online for super easy info linkage.
By the end of this summer, Portland General Electric plans to install 12 charging stations in Portland and Salem. Portland has the highest per capita ownership of hybrid cars in the country.
London is adding to their current EV charging stations.This map shows where Londoners can now catch a fast recharge on the go around town. Of course they can always charge at home, but there's nothing like the security of being able to top-up if needed.
We will continue to redesign both our lifestyles and our expectations, because we just are an inventive species. There is always that relaxed charm of simply accepting a simpler way of life... time to smell the roses...
We as individuals will continue to create great solutions, from the sublime to the simply ridiculous like this picnic table bicycle invention
or this kiddie EV. Here is a brilliant and laboriously complex recreation of life's own preferred method of transportation: walking
Here is homegrown pedalpower even I would feel safe riding. With a 3 year old uninsured $30,000 broken ankle, I am wary of balancing tricks.
This is a great design for third world water transportation Clearly people are willing to try anything to cut gas use... Reminds me: somebody wanted to see an Electric ATV EV: this company showed these well made ones at the Anaheim EV Show:
And to all the terrific Democratic policy wonks on the California legislature who demanded with the Zero Emissions Vehicles Mandate that auto companies produce at least some (nor as many as we would like) cars with zero emissions - which got all the car manufacturers jumping through this hoop into the future, our planet says thank you.
Read more...
Tesla Roadster $100,000 220 miles per charge 135 mph top speed Seats 2 All hail the Rolls Royce of EV's, grown from scratch in California, and the first one out of the gate - available now! Many kudos to Tesla for this huge achievement! There's even a Tesla store, where you can get service like a regular car company, and where they sold 3 in the first 3 days. Tell your rich friends to pick up a few Roadsters because that will fund the next price down, the WhiteStar sedan and in ten years the $15,000 model that will change the world.
If goofiness is no object:
NMG (No More Gas) $29,000 40 - 70 miles per charge (40 in snow, 70 summer) 116 mph top speed Seats 1 This car from Myers Motors which they bought from Corbin has real fans. It apparently feels like driving in a racecar with the car being like a helmet. It is fine in the snows of Ohio, and rebounds fine in crashes. I have concerns with its silly looks, but thats just me and many owners like this fellow SFEVA member really love this car. I feel it is so important to get people into carbon neutral cars, and this one could be perfect (116 mph top speed!) if it looked less like it just escaped from the circus. This Spark-EV Comet designed by Gianpaolo Alvino turned out to be vaporware from Spark-EV and Michael Papp was just arrested for fraud, and so this designer was not paid but his is a more dignified design for a 3 wheeler. Maybe a good designer like this will be hired by Myers... I know the CEO was looking for a second design after the Sparrow (they bought from Corbin that was renamed the NMG), and I know from my conversations with them that they have their hearts in the right place at Myers.
If time is no object: NEVs.
ZENN $13,000 30 miles per charge 25 mph top speed Seats 4 I test drove this ZENN last year in Santa Cruz. It is a perky and responsive normal-feeling car - if somewhat bare bones: about like my daughters 1985 Civic. It gets up to speed fast and brakes fast. It really is just like a 1980's lightweight car, but a model we didn't have: it is roomy inside. I would recommend this and recommend talking to ZENN about unlocking the speed control a bit. It can go faster with its EESTOR battery, and the enforced 25 mph just feels like it slows you too soon.
Miles $18,000 60 miles per charge 25 mph top speed Seats 2 Miles is now rolling 200 a month of these sturdy truck NEVs off the assemblyline. They also make an SUV like the ZENN, per their site. These are regular 4 wheeled NEVs, unlike the ZAP truck.
GEM $7,500 50 miles per charge 25 mph top speed Seats 2
GEM makes the quintessential golf carty NEVs. I didn't include one in my first diary because I thought it was too flimsy and ridiculous looking on their site. But that was before someone who shops the same farmers market as me leftthis model parked there every Saturday, and I kept seeing a mini bus version at Kaiser. In real life GEMs have more solidity and dignity than you would expect and can look pretty hip and Green. The pictures on their site seem strangely determined to kill sales by making it look like a feeble old ladies cart, but this famous environmentalist Simran Sethi of treehugger.com shows how it can look cool and as sturdy as it really is in real life.
ZAP $12,000 25 miles per charge 40 mph top speed Seats 2 (car version seats 4) I test drove a ZAP (the car, similar to the truck, but shorter) in Alameda, and it had a wobbly mirror. It was too slow to brake which felt unsafe. If someone suddenly ran out in front of me: too bad. The brakes are slow. They make it 3 wheeled like a motorbike so it does not need to meet crash test ratings of 4 wheeled vehicles - thats why this can go go 40 mph, is not speed slowed like the other NEVs. But I see them driving here in town now and if you are as careful as you are on a mototrbike, this is certainly an option. One thing to watch with ZAP is their eye is bigger than their stomach as my mom used to say: lots of vaporware at their site. But that can be a good thing too. If ZAP hadn't tried (though failed) to import the SMART car, Mercedes-Benz would never have realized there was a market here, and we would not have the SMART.
1. Mitsubishi iMiEVPetition $25,000 80 miles per charge + 80% Fast Recharge* in 30 mins 80 mph top speed Seats 4 I know you were distracted when Mitsubishi brought the iMiEV to show you this Spring: it was the primaries! They think you don't care: the sales rep in this video sounds flat, like only if there was a demand from us, would they cater to this little old backwater of gasguzzling flatearthers when Europe and other markets beckon. There is a lot of practical info in this video from Mitsubishi such as that since this most of this vehicle is already on the assemblyline as a gas guzzler, it is not that much of a stretch to make this an EV.
For performance watch this video of the iMiEV easily master the astonishingly long ascent of these Japanese Alps. The iMiEv doesn't have to be this garish red and white colorway: here is the more sedate shade it delivers mail in for the Japanese postal service. It has the same wheelbase size as a VW Rabbit, but far more of the air above is encaptured for its interior, so it is roomy, while small.
2. Subaru R1ePetition (bottom of page) EST $20,000-$40,000 50 miles per charge + 15 min 80% Fast Recharge* option 65 mph top speed Seats 2 Following their successful tests in the civilized world, two of the Subaru R1e EVs will join the New York Power Authority (NYPA) fleet for testing here. When I signed the petition at the bottom of the Subaru page to ask for this EV in the US, I let them know we are being held captive for ransom in this benighted nation - our government can not be counted on to help... In Japan the government really gets involved in paradigm-shifting disruptive tech - no whining about not picking winners or losers from them! The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology worked with Nagasaki University and Fuji Heavy Industries (the parent company of Subaru) in creating a battery with twenty times higher energy capacity using manganese instead of cobalt. Just like the Japanese government essentially gave us the Prius by generously subsidising early adopters.
3. Mercedes-Benz SmartForTwo EDPetition EST $20,000-$40,000 72 miles per charge 60 mph top speed Seats 2 The already shipped gasoline SmartForTwo is tiny! I saw one of the first deliveries in April parked among the weeds in an industrial factory area of SF next to normal cars. It looked as cute and clunky and solid as a toddlers sneaker in a closetfull of old boots in that context. The Electric Drive option is as well made as the original gas version. They have now finished testing the Electric Drive in the UK and are starting their test in LA with lithium batteries. Mercedes-Benzsaysthat in 7 years they will stop making gasoline vehiclesaltogether! They will make hydrogen and diesel and electric cars, using diesel for the hybrids instead of gasoline.
GM Volt $40,000 40 miles per charge (+ 600 mile onboard Range Extender*) 120 mph top speed Seats 4 Less ugly than in still photos, in street driving the Volt looks surprisingly elegant, somehow suggesting a ballet slipper to me. CEO Lutz is clueless about Climate Change so this is not what motivates GM, unlike many of the startups like Tesla and ZENN. Which makes trusting fruition of this more more iffy, driven forth merely by perceived peak oil - which will fluctuate even in descent, as the world will embark on last ditch ventures to scrape the bottom of the barrel. Take the zero emission pledge to nudge them along. $10,000 more expensive than initially thought. Subsidies like Clinton's excellent $10,000 EV subsidy will be needed to get the EV switch done. Lets work on the Senate majority that we must have to pass the eco legislation next year that we couldn't do so far. GM is the other big US company that sold out on us by (Who Killed The Electric Car?) killing the EV1, but that is no reason to punish their Detroit workers creating the followup. There might be a pure EV only option for purists, but currently the Volt will have its own onboard Range Extender powered by a little gas engine, making it a Series Hybrid.
TH!NK $25,000 125 - 250 miles per charge includes 45 minute Fast Charge* 100 mph top speed Seats 2 (+ 2 kids or groceries) Ford originally murdered its TH!NK in 2002 heres some historical footage of unhappy customers: But now that EV just won't stay dead! The 17 year old Norwegian company begun by Jan Otto Ringdal, that made these for Ford to meet the California Mandate, would not give up on the THINK and is now bringing it back to bite Ford in the -ass- I mean US - with actual production facilities to build it here in the USA. GE's Ecoimagination has invested $24 million in the technology. The now Norwegian TH!NK will also produce a van for America's soccer moms: TH!NK 0x $30,000 125 - 250 miles per charge includes 45 minute Fast Charge* 65 - 80 mph top speed Seats 5 After the California Mandate was outwitted by the autocompanies'lawyers, Ford also killed their Ford Ranger truck EV, but now a determined union UAW worker in the Midwest is attempting to revive the Ford Ranger EV and another company will convert Ford Rangers into EVs for you. The Ranger was an ideal EV truck, so sad that Ford gave up on a great idea. Take the zero emission pledge to nudge them along to reintroduce it.
Pininfarina Nido EST $25,000 155 miles per charge + 5 minute Fast Recharge* 80 mph top speed Seats 2 Originally designed in 2004 by the design company Pininfarina the NIDO won the "L'Automobile più Bella del Mondo" concept car award in 2005, a production model will be shown at Geneva in October 2008 and coming to the US for 2010.
Toyota (Plug In)Prius est $35,000-$45,000 250 miles per charge + 100 mpg Seats 5 Toyota has no motive for adding a PHEV Prius since it will likely do fine as a regular hybrid as gas prices rise, so this is hardly a definite, but Toyota is now talking the talk finally, on building the long begged-for plug in version of the Prius, that increases its mpg to +100. This is still a hybrid, but one you can plug in at night to get the + 100 mpg we demanded at our Step It Up rally. What Toyota also could do to easily meet the CA Mandate is simply bring back its fabulous RAV4 EV that was so popular. I rode last year in one of the last RAV4 EVs, and they feel just like regular RAV4s: and I was at an eco fest in Marin with one of the last ones behind me for SFEVA, and every eco Marin mom toting sandy footed kids past our booth wanted that EV to take the kids and the dog to the beach. One of the few that didn't get crushed just sold on eBay for what this EV is worth to us Americans, Toyota! Just bring it back.
Nissan Denki Cube $,000 miles per charge mph top speed Seats (no details yet) Now also even Nissan says they will have an EV in the US by 2010.
cityZENN $19,000 250 miles per charge with 5 minute Fast Charge* 80 mph Seats 4 The Canadian startup ZENN Cars already sells a speed limited ZENN that I test drove last year (see below) and wished could be a freeway speed EV. This EVpodcast interview with the CEO of ZENN is a good detail source for this news that ZENN has a freeway speed option in the works. Given ZENNs EESTOR battery development and the competent engineering of their NEV, it looks likely.
Smith Electric Vehicles Newton $,000 150 miles per charge 50 mph top speed Seats TNT in the UK just ordered another 100 of these delivery vans and Smith Electric Vehicles showed here at the EVs-23 show in January. They plan to start production of10,000 trucks in 2010 in a US factory. They have been making a 2 ton to 12 tonrange of EV trucks and vansfor 80 years, and so not surprisingly their parent company (Tanfield) stock jumped like sevenfold in the last few years...
such as this Smith - Ford EV van: the Ampere... so I suspect there might be a Smith/Ford merger or aquisition to come. Certainly Smith - with its EV expertize - and Ford with its Detroit factories (and a CEO who has seen the light), would be a great combination to reinvigorate Detroit with truly green vehicle development.
Modec $,000 100 miles per charge 50 mph top speed Seats 2 Another British commercial vehicle company Modec also showed at the EV show in January as I diaried here. There is a sample at a winery in Napa. They have sold their EV vans to Tesco in the UK for deliveries. Their FAQ page has good answers to my questions.
Phoenix SUV $45,000 110 miles per charge + 10 minute Fast Charge* 95 mph top speed Seats 5 The California startup Phoenix initially focused on fleet buyers for its two models, the SUV and the SUT. The production model of the truck version (SUT) which gets 130 miles per charge was test driven in 2007. PG&E has been testing the first 4 SUV models since 2007: initially these will be for fleet buyers like PG&E only, but in a few years for everyone. Phoenix is also considering an onboard battery Range Extender making both models series hybrids like the Volt (the new CA ZEV mandate favors hybrids).
Fisker Karma est $80,000 50 miles per charge + gas Range Extender* 125 mph top speed Seats 4 Spurned Tesla WhiteStar designer Henrik Fisker unveiled the body design for the Karma at the Detroit auto show this Spring. Lawsuits are flying with his previous company Tesla, obviously this is similar to the WhiteStar design... Fisker plans to stay in Detroit and utilize the rusting factories there to revive an auto industry newly geared to building eco cars, with Quantum Technologies doing the grunt work under the hood. Fiskers Karma will have Range Extenders like on the Volt. Since Fisker had been designing the whiteStar for Tesla, this aesthetic suggests what Tesla's secret next model the WhiteStar $50,000 sedan might look like. The Karma 500 orders already from the Detroit show this Spring. Like Tesla, Fisker plans a cheaper car next. They will use a solar roof to cool the car while parked. The AC is the most energy-expensive aspect of EVs, and a lot of that is to dispell the heat accumulated while parked. Update: will be assembled in Finland/to deliver 2009.
UEV Spyder $80,000 150 - 250 miles per charge 110 mph Seats 2 This quintessentially Californian EV startup company has still posted no new news since my last diary, but it plans to enter the x-prize. Or maybe making one perfect One Off is like the Haute Couture of the car business and that is ok too...check in with them at Spyder to see whats happening, maybe they just need some help getting going on this...
VW Golf PHEV $,000 31 miles per charge + diesel till recharge 70 mpg 75 mph Seats 4 VW also just unveiled this PHEV Golf, that they call atwin drive which will operate about like the Prius a short range on electric: switching to gas after that, but it is not really a parallel hybrid like the Prius, or a serial hybrid like the Volt... A plug-in hybrid with a very robust electric drivetrain that's forced to drag around an internal combustion engine in case it gets too far away from home, but yielding 70 miles per gallon. Maybe you can figure out how twin drive works from their diagram. 2010 in Germany, but noticed their model has a left hand drive...
Miles XS500 $39,000 120 miles per charge 80 mph Seats 4 Another EV startup in CA, Miles, still says they will have their sedate sedan by 2010, but they have not met earlier delivery promises yet. They seem to be building it in China. Mayor Bloomberg tried one there last year and declared it good. They, like ZENN, do currently make excellent Neighbourhood Electric Vehicles - their sturdy truck NEV is now available (see below: Section 3)
Venturi Eclectic $30,000 50 miles per charge + or solar roof recharging 31 mph top speed Seats 3 The French design firm Venturi's Eclectic initially looked like a toy to me, although beautiful, (and an effortless climber, as you can see in this amazing video) But then, after the Bali conference in which the US was reproached by the entire world for being such a carbon pig, my view altered and I saw us as just as greedy and excessive as the (ultimately beheaded) Marie Antoinette and her husband Louis. Now it simply looks right for here in the dry West where we're going to have a hundred year drought - so no chance of ruining those nice shoes. This price is for the first run, but they passed their homologations to sell here and plan to produce more at a lower price if the first run does well.
Aptera $30,000 120 miles per charge 90 mph top speed Seats 2 (+1/2) This will have two options, straight EV in which a UK site says the Aptera will have a range of 120 miles but autoblog green says in a series hybrid option like the Volt, a 1000 mile range.
Loremo $,000 93 - 124 miles per charge 105 mph top speed Seats 2 The German firm Loremo plans this EV for 2010. I have generally ignored all the foreign EVs that have not specified that they will sell here but I have a feeling this might. Just a possibility. But now, on to what is!...
oh, wait: also, -on the drawing board-: the Mini Cooper EV.Updated July: yes, the Mini EV will beavailable in 2009 at least in California.
Last Christmas Sams Club sold an EV conversion of a Mini Cooper with lithium ion batteries conversion by Hybrid Technologies. I think conversions will lead to production, but are not quite there yet, and so I have not included other conversion companies for that reason. But the fact that conversion companies have selected this as an electric conversion body, means it will probably become as an EV, but I didn't add it to the update, which I am trying to keep to production, not conversions, even fun and entertaining ones like the tzero by A C Propulsion's Tom Gage that I interviewed last year. Hybrid Technologies began mini cooper conversions last year. Conversions are always more expensive than building the technology in to begin with in: Hybrid's conversion makes the Mini a $60,000 EV. However, the Plug-In Prius was a conversion option for years before Toyota said they would make us a Plug-In option available. So. I bet it will be in my next years update.
While it's not the pleasantest prospect for a treehugger like me to dwell on, there is stuff we need to dig out of the earth, even to build the clean power economy.
Here's another European EV we should be watching, now that GM's chairman has tipped us off on the inside dope (I'm hoping) on government plans to 
Like most new startup companies, Miles EV is headquartered in a "Green" state: one that promotes innovation in the new green economy.
AutoblogGreen brings exciting news today about the next step for the California startup that shook up the auto industry with its successful launch this Spring of the all electric Tesla Roadster. But since none of us can actually afford that, we wait with baited breath to hear of the possible next steps for the company. Here it is.
The innovative UC Berkeley 
This is essentially a giant airbag around you, of course cushioned way down in there is the metal chassis and all those parts needed to keep everything moving along that you would want to be made in metal. But all those parts that don't have to be metal, the're not.
Like 
True, like all neighborhood electric vehicles, the GEM was going to take a serious hunk out of your day to get anywhere far at that speed limited 25 mph, but for just around town? Just fine.
Just look at the gorgeous new design of the Peapod compared with these other Chrysler vehicles that Chrysler claims will be EVs in a trice, two: RE-EVs like the Volt, (electric vehicles with sensible little range-extenders), and the sportscar, why, it will go just as fast and as far as the Tesla Roadster, just like that.
There is something reassuring about that solidity and spaciousness in a zero emissions EV. But next they should pop in G.M.'s range-extender from the Volt, to get the kids to the beach and home, and that's how GEM will be reborn as GreenEcoMobility.
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