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

A retired Queensland scientist says he has developed technology that could fast-track the widespread use of electric cars.

Peter Rays - from Stanthorpe - says he has been able to create super-conduction at room temperature, allowing more electrical current to flow through a substance.

He says the discovery has significant uses in computer and microwave technology and could see electric cars recharged in less than five minutes.

More from here - Retired scientist claims electric car breakthrough

Labels: electric-cars, inventions

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

The E-Zip 2008 Trailz is an electric bike by Currie Technologies. This electric bike is quite inexpensive -- compared with $700 up to $3000 for other bikes.

Using the electric motor on this bike is simple -- once you've started pedaling, you can turn the throttle, and the motor kicks in, giving you an immediate boost. The range of a fully-charged battery is about 10 miles -- and this could be made to something like 30-40 miles with some modifications or depending on the type of activity you use it for.

If you use this bike for a commute that is 20 miles or less, this could be an ideal alternative transport mechanism for you. It was easy to achieve speeds of 25 mph while pedaling lightly.

So while bike is heavy and lithium-ion batteries would be nice, it's certainly an inexpensive way to enter the world of electric biking.

More from here

Labels: electric-cars, electricity

Lithium batteries ready for the 3rd Gen. Prius

Toyota's lithium batteries ready to go - May 11, 2007

The biggest issue regarding the third iteration of Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive has been the lithium-ion batteries, and how soon those batteries could be available...
A Toyota executive recently announced today that Toyota's lithium-ion battery, under development with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., was technically ready to be mounted on hybrid cars "any time"...

Read the full report from here @ Hybrid Car Blog

Labels: batteries, electric-cars, hybrids, inventions

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

In Quest for Cleaner Energy, Texas City Touts Plug-In Car

AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin city Mayor Will Wynn is pushing a new version of the electric car called the plug-in, which runs almost entirely on electricity and has a big rechargeable battery. Mayor Wynn envisions the parked electric cars plugging into a network operated by the city's utility, which would then use the powerful car batteries as a big storage system from which to draw power

Source: WSJ

Labels: electric-cars, electricity