Gas 2.0

Scanning the week’s news of the leading fleet magazine, more than half the headlines are focused on automotive manufacturers including Toyota, Ford, Nissan and their commitment to greening of their fleets by moving to electric vehicle technologies.

For example, Nissan plans to use a $1.6 billion U.S. loan to rework a Tennessee factory so that battery-powered cars can be manufactured there. Ford Motor Company said it has developed an intelligent vehicle-to-grid communications and control system for its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that “talks” with the nation’s electric grid.

Indeed it is exciting to read on a daily basis how much closer we are to the reality of EV’s for consumers and fleets.  Fleets will be the first mass adopters of EVs and PHEVs. We are already seeing businesses, government agencies, cities and countries across the world that are making significant and meaningful steps to reducing their fuel costs, our nation’s dependence on imported fuel, and our carbon footprint by converting their gas guzzling and polluting fleets to eco friendly EV’s…but what about the infrastructure needed to support such vehicles?  Is there different technology needed to support EV fleets vs. consumer EVs?  Just what are the needs of fleet managers when it comes to EV fleets?

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GM’s recent “230″ PR campaign (previously covered HERE and HERE) has certainly caused a lot of controversy, most of it centered on the fact that the EPA initially “backed away” from the automaker’s optimistic (?) Chevy Volt mileage claims.

Despite the fact that the 230 mpg rating will likely stand (once GM gets a final-production Volt into the hands of the EPA, that is), so much attention has been paid to the matter that the good in charge at Progressive’s Automotive X PRIZE decided it was time to chime in, asking “Is MPG still relevant?”

Short answer:  No.

Read the X Prize group’s long(er) answer, and learn about their proposed MPGe rating system, after the jump.

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Project Better Place, the brainchild of entrepreneur and CEO Shai Agassi, in partnership with French automaker Renault, is an increasingly popular electric car service model that looks to the “service station” concept for electric cars. By developing an infrastructure of “swap stations,” drivers can swap discharged batteries in their electric cars in little more than five minutes, and be on their way. Pilot projects are already underway across the globe, including Denmark, Israel, Japan, Hawaii, California, and Australia.

Renault and Better Place announced this week plans sell up to 160,000 electric cars annually throughout Denmark and Israel starting in 2011.

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It was a one in 20 chance encounter. I felt like a paparazzi who got a chance to spy a celebrity but in this instance my camera caught a shot of the Tango, the car that makes look the Smart Car look like a Lincoln Continental.  Only about 10-20 Tangos exists which makes the sighting more special. Actually my neighbor (a solar guy who already drives an EV-4) had the thing in his driveway in the Lower Haight and a crowd of passersby, tourists, and green auto enthusiasts formed around this electric only car.

As they say, looks can be deceiving. My neighbor said that the Tango can beat a Tesla in terms of acceleration. The Tango can accelerate from zero to over 130 mph in one gear. It accelerates from zero to 60 mph in about 4 seconds. We say Zoom to that. Read the rest of this entry »

British Manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), Modec, has announced a joint venture with U.S. based Navistar International Corporation, a $15 billion per year truck manufacturer. The announcement comes at an ideal time as earlier this month, President Barack Obama announced the largest grant ever to develop and bring to market electric vehicles. Obama made the announcement at the Navistar premises in Elkhart County, Indiana. As part of this funding, Navistar was awarded a grant of $39 million, which will be used to accelerate EV production.

“The all-electric delivery vehicle is a concrete example of what business and government can do when we work together,” said Daniel C. Ustian, Navistar Chairman, President and CEO. “The future is now with this electric vehicle. In fact, we already have interested customers, including some of the most respected names in the industry.” Read the rest of this entry »

There has been one benefit to having the American auto companies bankrupt, and that is that many companies and ideas for cars that would have otherwise never had a chance now do. One such idea is from CT&T United, newly based in the United States. The company has announced plans for a proprietary manufacturing, sales and service model called RASS or Regional Assembly and Sales System. This system will help to support the companies U.S. market launch of their all-electric vehicles and each RASS will cost between $8-$10 million to build.

“Just as just-in-time parts delivery from Toyota revolutionized the auto industry, we believe the RASS system from CT&T has the potential to do the same by regionalizing manufacturing and sales and allowing us to offer EVs at an incredibly reasonable price point,” said Young Gi Lee, Chairman and company founder. “RASS will also speed up our national rollout so that we an stay on the leading edge of the EV market.” Read the rest of this entry »

Three weeks ago, I wrote a story about the upcoming public debut of the Fisker Karma Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV). Well, it’s official. The Karma PHEV made its public driving debut over the weekend, just 19 months after being introduced as a concept car. Behind the wheel was Bernhard Koehler, co-founder and COO of Fisker Automotive. Fisker Automotive is just one of several companies, such as Bright Automotive, that have brought concept cars to market in less than two years - a feat I don’t believe any major automotive company in the states has ever accomplished.

“This demonstration represents a significant milestone for Fisker Automotive and PHEV technology,” said Fisker Automotive CEO Henrik Fisker. “The future of clean cars is bright.”

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Aptera Motors publicly debuted it Aptera 2e during TED 2009 this past February, but the company has announced that it will modify the interior of its Aptera 2e in its production models. According to the company’s newsletter, they did extensive consumer testing of the car and discovered some elements that would turn off consumers including cabin space, cargo space and well, space. So they fixed them.

The first major issue found was that there wasn’t enough space for men or women. I remember this being an issue in the first version of the Honda Insight as well. Very tall people couldn’t fit into the car. Like Honda, Aptera has gone about to fix this and using their Aptera formula - safety, then aerodynamics, then lightweight - they have increased the interior cabin by 10 percent. Read the rest of this entry »

Within 20 years, 86 percent of light-vehicles sold in the U.S. could be electric vehicles; but only by following this prescription.

A U.C. Berkeley study found that Americans want something like their cell phone plan for electric cars. If they don’t have to worry about their batteries, then most Americans would prefer electric cars.

If the customer is always right, then more of the automakers planning electric cars should be looking at battery leasing; with battery swaps available for long-distance travel. Customers would own the car, but pay a per-mile charge to lease the battery.

Here’s how this would make EVs cheaper than gasoline cars:
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August is hotter than ever for those of us who envision a future where the streets are populated with plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles and powered by renewable energies.

The month began with the unveiling of Nissan’s Leaf electric vehicle. On Wednesday, President Obama and the Department of Energy announced $2.4 billion in grants to fuel the development of the electric vehicle industry and reduce our nation’s dependence on oil.

Next week opens with the second annual Plug-In 2009 in Long Beach, Calif.

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“Today the Obama Administration demonstrated its commitment to this fast-emerging industry and to green fleet vehicle technologies that will define the future of American automotive manufacturing. We are honored to be among the DOE grant recipients and commend the Administration for its leadership and shared vision that we can create a viable, sustainable industry and deliver green fleets today,” said Bryan Hansel, CEO of Smith Electric Vehicles, a company producing all electric trucks.

Smith Electric Vehicles was awarded a $10 million grant today by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The money is to be used for the production of all-electric, zero emissions commercial trucks for a nationwide demonstration project. The goal is to validate the performance of these vehicles across a range of climates and locations. Read the rest of this entry »

For a city with so many amazing trees, Portland is getting ready to add a bunch of new LEAFs to our streets.

No, that’s not a typo. I’m talking about the LEAF, Nissan’s just-unveiled electric vehicle, which is set to hit dealerships in the fall of 2010. In our quest to be the nation’s leader in electric vehicle infrastructure, usage and development, the Portland region took a big step forward today with the announcement that Nissan and eTec selected Oregon as one of five test markets for the largest deployment of EV’s and the associated charging station network in American history. Read the rest of this entry »

Washington’s hugely popular cash for clunkers program has boosted all auto sales 16 percent from June to July as desperate and grateful Americans unloaded the gas guzzling behemoths they had been lured into buying with huge SUV tax credits by the Bush administration. (Small business owners like doctors, lawyers, and real estate agents had been able to use fossil friendly incentives to deduct more than $100,000 of the cost of an SUV from their taxes.) Now that they have the chance, Americans are unloading those gas guzzlers. Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t turn on the TV and avoid the ads for the dealers promoting the Cash for Clunkers program. Experts predicted that the money would last at least two to three weeks, but alas, it is not so. The LA Times is reporting that in less than one week, the $1 billion dollars for the program is already gone and the government is scrambling to find more money to keep the program going. Worst case, I suppose they can just write “IOUs” like the state of California is doing and according to Governor Schwarzenegger, may be bailing out the federal government some day.

“We are working tonight to asses the situation facing what is obviously an incredibly popular program,” the White House told the LA Times. “Auto dealers and consumers should have confidence that all valid CARS transactions that have taken place to date will be honored.”

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Santa Monica, California-based EV start-up Coda Automotive has raised a cool $24 Million to support the development and 2010 California market entry of its all-electric sedan and funding of its battery manufacturing joint venture.

The funds came after a successful bid under the Series B Investment Round, backed by a team including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. & Farallon Capital Founder Thomas F. Steyer.

In a press release Kevin Czinger, president and CEO, Coda Automotive said, “Coda’s ability to raise capital under challenging market conditions and the caliber of our investors attest to the strength of our business model (video) and the opportunity that exists in the electric car and battery sectors.”

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