Gas 2.0

There seems to be a craze catching on with matching classic metal with modern, alternative power sources. I guess not everyone wants to drive a Smartcar or a Prius, but at the same time doesn’t want to pay for gas. That is the case of software engineer Raul Atkinson, who finally decided that since nobody made an electric car he would want to drive, he’d simply build one himself.

Of course, it couldn’t look like an electric car. We are all entitled to our opinions, but I still live in America, home of the muscle car, luxury SUVs, and a seemingly endless series of scenic roads. So Atkinson’s idea of dumping an electric powerplant into a Daytona kit car is not only appealing, but downright sexy…in an Earth-friendly way.

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Picture the scene - the sun is shining and the idea comes into your head that it might be quite nice to go for a scenic drive through the countryside. You dial a number on your mobile phone and within seconds a car appears outside your house.

You climb in, recline the seat back as far as it’ll go and quietly whisper ‘drive.’ Then, as the car glides smoothly along, you pour yourself a long cold drink and admire the scenery, occasionally barking out the odd instruction like “left at the lights,” “faster,” or “turn the MP3 up.”

Sounds like a nice dream? Well, if Dutch-US design team Mike and Maaike have their way that dream could one day be within the reach of every driver.

The duo have created an all-electric concept vehicle, known as the ATNMBL, (short for ‘Autonomobile’) that could revolutionize the way we interact with our cars, by controlling them with our voices (more pics after the jump).

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“Our city is progressive and aggressive in implementing sustainable solutions to environmental and economic challenges.”

–David Robinson, director of Facilities and Fleet, City of Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro, Oregon, the 5th largest city in the state and known as “Silicon Forest” is joining the growing electric community with the announcement that it will be the first in the state to install public ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations for both plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles. The city will install 16 charging stations downtown, one as part of its “green” intermodal transit facility due to be constructed this year.

It’s not surprising that this announcement comes from the environmentally progressive Northwest. Robinson noted that the community has a, “large forward-thinking population ready to embrace electric vehicle technology,” and that the City is committed to providing the facilities that its community needs. Read the rest of this entry »

UK luxury car-manufacturer Aston Martin has teamed up with Toyota in a trail-blazing deal to make a ‘cheap’ version of the Toyota iQ for £20,000 ($32,000), making it the world’s smallest luxury supermini.

The new model, called the Aston Martin Cygnet, will be offered to the company’s existing customers (and those with vehicles on order) by the end of the year and will go on general sale following an introductory period.

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There’s an electric car revolution underway in sleepy Browntown, Wisconsin, population 252.

More than six Sebring-Vanguard CitiCars, many zipping down the country roads in southwestern Wisconsin, are registered to owners in this small town – most to Phil Welty and one to myself.  They come in red, yellow and several other colors and look like a wedge of cheese, but they’re all completely powered by electric motors.  It’s estimated that as few as 600 CitiCars are still on the road in the U.S. with less than 3,000 manufactured by Sebring-Vanguard between 1974 and 1976 during the last energy crisis.

“When I first saw the CitiCars back in the 1970s, it was the only all-electric car on the market,” recalls Phil Welty,  “The same problem exists today as in the 1970s, like high fuel prices and our marriage to foreign oil.  I’ve always wanted to bring one back from the junkyard and restore it to fully operable condition.”  Not content with just one, he has two CitiCars on the road, using his other cars for parts.

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It appears that companies are realizing that zero emission electric vehicles should not just be for the “rich”. In May, Nissan announced that it would begin electric cars in the U.S. to be available in 2010. This week, they announced they would mass produce a zero-emissions electric car by 2012 that would be affordable. However, during a Nissan shareholder’s call Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn refused to speculate on the sticker price.

According to an Associated Press article, Ghosn said, “If it’s not affordable, it’s not gonna work. We are not going to come with a very high price. We are gonna come with a reasonable price,” he said. “We are here to mass market them.”

What I want to know is what the company will consider affordable now that America’s economic turmoil continues to spiral downward. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, 300 folks across North America turned in their car keys for a month as part of the 2008 Zipcar Low-Car Diet. And, in addition to cutting congestion, they also walked 85% more, biked 136% more and decreased their miles driven by 71%. Pretty impressive, eh? Starting July 15, a new crop of participants from all Zipcar cities worldwide* will begin the 2009 Low-Car Diet: one full month of living without a primary car.

Zipcar will be selecting 30 participants in each Zipcar metro to take part in the 2009 Low-Car Diet. Zipcar and its partners are committed to providing all participants with the necessary tools for creating transportation nirvana, including:

• Bike rentals
• Transit passes
• Complimentary meals at participating restaurants
• Discounts at local retailers
• And, of course, a 1-year Zipcar membership with some driving credit to get started

There will be a number of applicants for only 30 spaces, and Zipcar would like to make sure they’re the best. If you think you’d like to try an unconventional diet just fill out this short survey.

*Zipcar cities include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington, DC.

Photo Courtesy tvol via Flickr under Creative Commons license.

While the MDI AIRpod is hardly “new news”, nary an auto journalist has managed to get behind the joystick (no steering wheel here) to test the viability of this odd-yet-innovative vehicle. In case you haven’t heard, the MDI AIRpod is a concept vehicle designed to run solely on compressed air as means of transportation, though no working models had been released to the press. But as the AIRpod nears actual production, MDI has begun inviting journalists to take a whirl in a prototype model, and Edmunds Inside Line was first in the queae it seems.

The AIRpod they drove was only a prototype, so you can take from their impressions what you will. But, just having the AIRpod on the road is a major first step towards actual commercialization of what was once just a wacky concept.

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“To my knowledge, at this point, ExxonMobil has no interest in putting charging stations at retailer locations,” said Pat Brant, Chief Polymer Scientist with ExxonMobil Chemical Company. I just had to ascertain if ExxonMobil was really in the car business after they announced their partnership in launching the Maya 300 and it appears that the answer is no. However, ExxonMobil Chemical Company, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil that was built from scratch 18 years ago, is is in the business of developing technologies to improve technologies with battery applications.

So here is how the partnership works. ExxonMobil Chemical Company developed the pioneering lithium ion battery separation technology. They then partnered with Electrovaya, to integrate the technology into their batteries and then manufacture the batteries. The batteries are then given to Electrovaya subsidiary Maya, who then manufactures the Maya 300. So there, ExxonMobil is not in the car business.

Speaking of the car business, one of the burning questions is how is the Maya 300 different than other electric vehicles. There are three main reasons.

1. The Maya 300 is powered by a Lithium-Ion SuperPolymer® battery (made by Electrovaya). The lithium-ion polymer technology platform enables lithium to be moved faster and more efficiently, allowing more energy to be stored in a smaller space. Most other hybrid and electric vehicles are using nickel-metal-hybrid batteries that take up more space and are heavier.
2. Smaller battery. Smaller space. A conventional lead acid battery pack on average takes over five times the space and weight of the Electrovaya battery pack.
3. Style. The Maya 300 looks like a traditional four-door car with a hatchback. On the road, aesthetically speaking, you’d be hard pressed to tell it was an electric vehicle.

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Today, the oil industry has become a player in the auto industry. ExxonMobil is launching the Maya 300, a lithium-ion battery powered car that can drive up to 120 miles on one charge yet has the look and feel of a gasoline-powered car.

This announcement comes on the heels of a whirlwind of investments by the oil industry to help position them as players in the biofuels industry. Many oil companies have either purchased ethanol or biodiesel plants and/or made investments in cellulosic technology and development companies. Does this announcement set the stage for the rise of other players to take over the helm of U.S. auto industry?

The Maya 300 was developed in conjunction with Electrovaya, a pioneer in the development and manufacturing of Lithium Ion SuperPolymer battery systems. The two companies have worked together to, “develop the innovative urban vehicle that will be a ‘game changer’ in advancing transportation alternatives.” ExxonMobil actually developed the lithium-ion battery separator film and was the first company to introduce the lithium-ion battery in 1991. Read the rest of this entry »