NewNergy

General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner announced Tuesday that his board has given the green light to begin manufacturing the Chevy Volt, an extended-range electric vehicle. He pledged to get the Volt into dealerships by late 2010.That would be earlier than the timetable announced by Nissan Motor CEO Carlos Ghosn, who in mid-May said that Nissan would sell large numbers of electric vehicles to U.S. consumers by 2012 and would offer electric cars for corporate fleets in 2010.

Across GE's production line, work is under way to use new battery technologies to help propel tugboats, power delivery trucks and heavy machinery and even support diesel locomotives.

Lithium-ion batteries, which revolutionized consumer electronics, are being developed to power cars. Not only do they store more energy in smaller spaces, but they also lose their charges slowly. Several carmakers and GE are racing to develop new kinds of lithium-ion batteries for autos.

Full report here -Research may yield an electric car

Labels: autos, electric-cars

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have revealed that they have driven a car 650 miles on one tank of liquid hydrogen. In a recent test, the team installed a super-insulated hydrogen gas tank in a standard Prius hybrid that was able to keep a full load of the liquid without evaporating for six days, setting a new world record.

The 300-pound tank removes a lot of obstacles to the development of hydrogen-powered cars. Current versions, such as the fleet of hydrogen-electric Toyota Prius’s used by various city governments across Southern California, run on compressed hydrogen gas, and have a limited range of around 80 miles between fill-ups. Even a fairly modest three-gallon tank fills the entire trunk of a Prius, but still only allows a range of around 200 miles, not really enough to compete with gasoline-only vehicles. One way to overcome this limitation is by using liquid hydrogen, which takes up around a third of the volume of compressed gas. However, it is much more difficult to handle, mainly because it must be kept at very low temperatures (around -420oF) and extremely high pressure to prevent it from evaporating as the engine heats up.

More from here - Breakthrough Hydrogen Car Gets 650 Miles Per Tank

Labels: autos, hydrogen, inventions

Toyota has announced what it claims is a major breakthrough in fuel cell technology, with a new prototype that is capable of more than doubling the range of previous fuel cell vehicles.

The Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle – Advanced (or FCHV-Adv) has a range of 510miles on a single 156-litre tank of Hydrogen – the company’s previous-generation FCHV could only extract 205miles from its 148-litre tank. More important, from the point of view of corporate honour, the FCHV-Adv has double the claim range of the Honda FCX Clarity.

The dramatic extension in range has been achieved by improving the performance of the fuel cell, improving regenerative braking which feeds a battery-hybrid system and reducing the amount of power consumed by auxiliary systems.

More from here

Labels: autos, fuel-cells, hydrogen

The Tesla Roadster, despite being a 100% electric car, is considered by its makers as a sports car. And yes, the Roadster does have stunning looks that makes it look like a legitimate sports car. But even better is the fact that it is a legitimate sports car. 0-60 mph in just 3.9 and the top speed of a little more than 130 mph. The car is also capable of delivering an amazing 13,000 rpm. All that without burning any fuel.

The car truly gives the best of both worlds. It gives the thrill of speed (its acceleration rate beats the Porsche 911 GT3) without the environmental and monetary side effects of a gas guzzling super car engine. Other benefits include the fact that the Tesla Roadster can travel 220 miles before recharging. The elictrical cost to the owner would be roughly two cents per mile. That is like the equivalent of having a 135 MPG car that can still deliver the way performance oriented sports cars should deliver. It is one truly enticing car.

Full story from here - Tesla Roadster: Electric Car Breakthrough?

Labels: autos, design, electric-cars

Advances in lithium-ion battery technology will boost the range of electric vehicles to 400 kilometers (248 miles) by 2015, the head of research and development at Nissan Motor Co. said Wednesday.

Mitsuhiko Yamashita, Nissan's executive vice president for research and development, said advances in lithium-ion battery technology will dramatically boost the operating range of electric vehicles, potentially broadening their appeal. The breakthrough will come with so-called fourth-generation lithium-ion batteries that will be ready by 2015, he said.

More from here

Labels: autos, batteries, electric-cars, hybrids, inventions

Whenone of the world’s mightiest corporations throws everything it’s got at a project, and when it shreds its rule book in the process, the results are likely to be impressive. Still, even for General Motors, the Volt is a reach. If it meets specifications, it will charge up overnight from any standard electrical socket. It will go 40 miles on a charge. Then a small gasoline engine will ignite. The engine’s sole job will be to drive a generator, whose sole job will be to maintain the battery’s charge—not to drive the wheels, which will never see anything but electricity. In generator mode, the car will drive hundreds of miles on a tank of gas, at about 50 miles per gallon. But about three-fourths of Americans commute less than 40 miles a day, so on most days most Volt drivers would use no gas at all.

Because it will have both an electric and a gasoline motor on board, the Volt will be a hybrid. But it will be like no hybrid on the road today. Existing hybrids are gasoline-powered cars, with an electric assist to improve the gas mileage. The Volt will be an electric-powered car, with a gasoline assist to increase the battery’s range.

Source: Electro-Shock Therapy

Labels: autos, electric-cars, electricity, hybrids

The 2-Mode Hybrid system uses a new, electrically variable transmission (EVT) that offers the best of both worlds: fuel economy and real SUV capability. The two modes consist of a continuously variable operation, for low-load driving situations and a fixed-gear operation, for high-load conditions such as towing or highway driving.

Drawing on experience gleaned in the development of hybrid bus propulsion systems, GM designed the two-mode EVT to provide the best combination of city and highway fuel economy; it is used in concert with the 6.0L Gen IV V-8 engine with Active Fuel Management. Furthermore, the EVT is designed to bolt directly to the standard four-wheel-drive transfer case found on the gasoline-only models for true four-wheel-drive capability.

The Escalade Hybrid’s drivetrain is made up of components, each of which works together to provide seamless, economical and comfortable operation that goes virtually unnoticed by the driver ...

Source: 2009 Cadillac Escalade Hybrid

Labels: autos, efficiency, electric-cars, hybrids

Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have revealed that they have driven a car 650 miles on one tank of liquid hydrogen. In a recent test, the team installed a super-insulated hydrogen gas tank in a standard Prius hybrid that was able to keep a full load of the liquid without evaporating for six days, setting a new world record.

The 300-pound tank removes a lot of obstacles to the development of hydrogen-powered cars. Current versions, such as the fleet of hydrogen-electric Toyota Prius’s used by various city governments across Southern California, run on compressed hydrogen gas, and have a limited range of around 80 miles between fill-ups. Even a fairly modest three-gallon tank fills the entire trunk of a Prius, but still only allows a range of around 200 miles, not really enough to compete with gasoline-only vehicles. One way to overcome this limitation is by using liquid hydrogen, which takes up around a third of the volume of compressed gas. However, it is much more difficult to handle, mainly because it must be kept at very low temperatures (around -420oF) and extremely high pressure to prevent it from evaporating as the engine heats up.

Source: Breakthrough Hydrogen Car Gets 650 Miles Per Tank

Labels: autos, hydrogen

Hybrids: Don't buy the hype

Sure, hybrids save gas but they won't save you money. There are smarter ways to go, says By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN/Money staff writer

With gasoline prices at a high, you might think it makes a lot of sense that hybrid cars are hot sellers.

They may make a social statement you're interested in, but if you want to save money because of rising gas prices, you're heading down the wrong road by buying hybrid autos, at least for now, says this report.

This kind of gets me thinking about the prices of various alternative energy sources right now...and in almost every case, the prices are higher than what we get from conventional sources and fossil fuels.

For instance, in the case of hybrids, I understand that they don’t save much at highway speeds, and many Americans commute at highways speeds. The capital costs on hybrids are higher as well. And it is not just with hybrids...I live in a hot (not sexy, but 105 degree F hot) city in India, and may be I can simply capture all the sun's heat and convert into electricity...maybe, but solar panels aren't cheap. Geothermal perhaps, way too costly.

You go across the spectrum, and analyse other alt energy sources - wind energy, wave energy, biofuels, all these cost relatively more right now...

Now don't get me wrong, I am not complaining, just stating a fact. This does not unduly worry me though, the prices are higher but not unaffordable, which in itself is great...when you consider that we are just on the threshold of exploring new sources of energy, I am optimistic the prices will fall quickly, and all the time, the prices of fossil fuels will be rising...

Back to hybrids. A further search on the cost of ownership of hybrids landed me on an interesting post on hybrids which said, "The Time for Hybrid has Come". The author cites an Edmunds.com report which gives the following reason why the hybrids are more economical now:

1. Now is the time when the prices and expenses on hybrid vehicles are at its lowest because there is now more supply than demand.
2. Incentives are now being offered on most of the popular hybrid vehicles.
3. Tax credits would be way lower especially later in the spring.
4. Gas prices are going up again.

So, perhaps right now hybrids might be more attractive than what they could be a couple of months lower, especially if gas prices go down again (optimistic thinking, I admit), but we need a far more stable price differential than that. Overall, I am not sure the time for hybrids has come, but perhaps what that day is not far into the future.

If I write a similar post perhaps a couple of year later the title in all probability will be, "Of course Hybrids save you money".

Read the full post here @ Hybrid Cars News

Labels: autos, costs, hybrids

Toyota to be 100% hybrid by 2020?

A short TreeHugger post informs about a Toyota executive saying that the company has seen some success in reducing the cost of the electrical components used in it's hybrid powertrains, and that Toyota ultimately aims by 2020 to have all Toyotas to be hybrid.

Not sure if this is just the company's ambition or a strategy...

Read the original TreeHugger post from here

Labels: autos, costs, hybrids

China’s Automakers, With Beijing’s Prodding, Show Alternative-Fuel Cars

By Keith Bradsher, April 21, 2007

SHANGHAI, April 20 — Chinese automakers, under pressure from the government to produce more fuel-efficient cars, unveiled an unexpectedly broad array of prototypes for fuel-cell cars, gasoline-electric hybrid cars and electric battery cars at the Shanghai auto show recently.

The variety and sophistication of the cars showed a striking improvement not just since the last Shanghai auto show two years ago

Read the full report from here @ NY Times

Labels: autos, electric-cars, events, fuel-cells, hybrids

U.S. Auto Chiefs Ask Bush for Incentives on Biofuels

By Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. automakers' chief executive officers urged President George W. Bush to back incentives to bring ethanol and biodiesel to more pumps as the companies boost output of so-called flex-fuel vehicles.

Half the vehicles made by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler by 2012 could be able to run on biodiesel or E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, the CEOs said in a statement.

Read the full news report from here @ Bloomberg

Labels: autos, biofuels, ethanol

Skoda Auto introduces biofuel, gas-fuelled models

28 March 2007

Czech car maker Skoda Auto today introduced two Skoda Octavia models running on biofuel and natural gas, and announced that it was ready to launch the production of the two models next year if there was good demand. The Skoda Octavia has a 1.6 MPI engine running on so-called FlexiFuel, a mixture of biofuel and petrol.

Labels: autos, transportation

Diesels Come Clean

by Matt Vella

In Europe gas costs more than $5 a gallon. In the U.S., it's under $3. In Europe, diesel-powered cars and trucks account for 50% of all auto sales. In the U.S., they are less than 4%. What do the Europeans know that Americans don't?

They know that diesels provide superior fuel-economy without sacrificing performance. The main concern for most Americans is that the hangover from the smoky, smelly diesels of the 1970s remains fresh in many minds. But changes in the supply of diesel fuel, emerging cleaner-burning technologies, and growing consumer concern over the environment and fuel economy in particular are creating new opportunities for automakers willing to dabble in diesel, says this article

Read the full article here @ Business Week, 26 Mar 2007 issue

Labels: autos, diesel, environment, gasoline