I recently stumbled across Lion Electric Vehicles. These guys have some great new technology that enables you to hop-up your existing hybrid by swapping out your existing batteries with new batteries can greatly increase your range.
And even more incredible is that they are selling Ford Escape Hybrids that have already been modified with their new technology. Changes to the battery pack and the sensor program allow it to run on EV entirely within city speed ranges. On the highway it operates as an ICE vehicle with electric boost.
These guys are based out of VA, but have facilities all over the world. It is nice to see a US company developing new technology that will help power the new energy-independence economy. I am hopeful that our current energy crisis well help pour capital into companies like Lion which will help develop the new technologies required to achieve our goal of energy independence.
Also filed in Energy-Independence, Lion Electric Vehicles
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Tagged batteries, battery, battery pack, economy, Electric, electric vehicles, Energy, energy crisis, Energy-Independence, Escape, Ford, ford escape, hybrid, hybrids, ICE, technology changes, US
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I recently noticed the press release for this nifty little new electric car that is produced by the Norwegian firm Th!nk Global. Ironically, Ford Motors actually developed this vehicle but sold it to Norwegian investors back in 2003. Ford Motor Company owned the TH!NK brand from 1999-2004.
While the four-seater has a 110 mile range and a top speed of 65 mph, studies have show that this type of performance is adaquate for almost all city drivers, as well commuters that have less than 20 mile commutes.
Th!nk Global also claims that the car is made from 95% recyclable materials, will cost less than $25,000, and become available in the U.S. in 2009. Recently Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, the leading venture firm that is investing in and accelerating Green technology solutions and policy innovations, has pumped additional funding into Th!nk so that they can expand into North America.
While I am certainly excited about the prospects of more and more companies getting into the electric car market, it is a shame that our Big Three are not leading the charge. The technology innovations required for these new cars should be coming from our own companies, and the manufactoring jobs would certainly be welcome in the Detroit area.
http://www.21stcentury.co.uk/cars/ford_th!nk.asp - Old Press Release from Ford on the Th!nk!
Also filed in Energy-Independence, Th!nk!
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Tagged car market, commuters, Detroit, detroit area, Electric, Electric Car, Ford, ford motor company, ford motors, green technology, Motor, North America, norwegian firm, recyclable materials, technology innovations, top speed, US, venture firm
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Daimler has announced that it is jumping on the growing electric car bandwagon, with plans to roll-out a Mercedes-Benz and Smart EV in 2010.
As far as the Smart model goes, there is currently a fleet of 100 first-generation Smart electric cars running in London, and it’s a fair bet that the new cars will be at least roughly based on these.
No decision has been made regarding the price for the EV models. According to Zetsche, “That depends on whether we sell the batteries with the car or lease them. The willingness (on the part of consumers) to pay more is limited.”
read more | digg story
Also filed in Energy-Independence, Green, Mercedes
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Tagged batteries, Benz, daimler, Electric, Electric Car, electric cars, EV, London, Mercedes, mercedes benz, new cars, Smart
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EEStor is a company based in Cedar Park, Texas, United States that claims to have developed a superior type of capacitor for electricity storage, which EEStor calls ‘Electrical Energy Storage Units’ (EESU). Its CEO and president is Richard Weir, who is also a co-inventor named on their principal technology patent.
These units use barium titanate coated with aluminum oxide and glass to achieve a level of capacitance claimed to be much higher than what is currently available in the market. The claimed energy density is 1.0 MJ/kg (existing commercial supercapacitors typically have an energy density of around 0.01 MJ/kg, while lithium ion batteries have an energy density of around 0.54–0.72 MJ/kg).[2]
Based on these claims, a five-minute charge should give the capacitor sufficient energy to drive a small car 300 miles (480 km). However, standard household wiring is not capable of delivering the power required for this, so charging times this short would probably require purpose-built high capacity dispensing stations. Overnight charging at home should still be practical, as is using a second EESU for the home which could be charged overnight using cheap, off-peak electricity to then charge the EEStor unit in the car in 5-10 minutes on demand. Also according to Ian Clifford a normal household outlet with 110 volt supply can fully charge the EESTor powered CityZENN in 4 hours for a 250 mile range and a normal household outlet with 220 volt supply can fully charge the EESTor powered CityZENN in 2 hours for a 250 mile range. CityZENN target price is around $25000 – $30000.
Not sure if this will ever actually work, or if it is just hype? I think LS9 has a better chance to revolutionize our energy supply.
Also filed in Energy-Independence, Green
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Tagged aluminum oxide, barium, barium titanate, Cedar Park, CEO, EEStor, EESU, Ian Clifford, lithium ion batteries, Richard Weir, supercapacitors, technology patent, Texas, Volt
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