Seven Generational Ruminations

Google.org gives electric cars a push, with investments in Aptera and ActaCell Google.org is Google's not-exactly-charity arm of their operations. Since Google believes in not being evil I suppose they want to use Google.org to do some good things for the world. I was at this announcement and the Google.org guy said Google uses an astonishly large amount of energy in their operations (electricity to drive servers) and they are interested in clean energy technologies, and that one vision they have is Millions of vehicles plugging into a greener grid.

Aptera has designed a three wheel electric vehicle that looks like a strange cross between an airplane and a car. Technically it is a motorcycle however it has a cabin etc. It comes as a pure electric or as a hybrid electric. They're claiming 200+ miles/gallon for the hybrid electric version. The airplane styling is a conscious choice on their part to reduce aerodynamic drag and to get the most effect from the energy used to power the vehicle.

I don't know anything about ActaCell but the article linked above describes them as a battery maker who is targeting the electric vehicle industry. The key core thing EV's need to get greater adoption is long range and generally better performance, and it is through better batteries that EV's will perform better, go further, last longer, etc.

GM building electric car infrastructure

General Motors announced a deal today with more than two dozen utilities to work on infrastructure for electric vehicles, which, in an ideal world, would be ready before GM's electric car hits the road.

GM is the company famously indicted for killing the electric vehicle. The EV1 was a beautiful piece of technology and it is criminal that GM killed that car in preference to the Hummer. Especially considering how today all that the Hummer represents is killing not just GM but the other American car companies. In any case GM is getting a lot of attention with the Chevy Volt, a plugin hybrid car they plan to start selling in 2010.

One thing electric vehicles need is infrastructure in which to do recharging. This seems a little strange because there is electricity everywhere, so what's the problem. Well, have you noticed how few power outlets there are outside? And further to recharge a car takes quite a lot of electricity, and if you're recharging a car from a typical 120volt 15A electric socket it's going to take awhile. A large part of the "long" recharge times for typical cars (5 hours or more) comes from the relatively slow rate of 120v 15A. It may be best for electric car charging stations to exist scattered around cities which are constructed to meet the needs of electric cars. However at the same time it's very important that the electric car charging stations not be overly expensive. We want to have low barriers to adoption for electric vehicles and if the charging stations had to be expensive it would be a high barrier to entry.

Coulomb unveils electric-car charging stations Coulomb Technologies has designed a charging station which can be installed like a kiosk across a city. The charging station includes methods to require payment to charge a vehicle.

GM looks to an electric avenue

GM said it had begun collaborating with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an industry group representing more than 30 of the top electric utilities in North America. GM needs help from the power companies to make sure the infrastructure is in place to make the Volt a mass-market success; the utilities want to make sure millions of Americans plugging in their cars at the same time do not overwhelm the electricity grid. The two sides are hoping to standardise the technology that will allow the grid to recognise electric cars and to top their batteries up in the most efficient way.

Plug-In 2008: Electric Cars Are Inevitable ... and Essential

The electrification of the automobile is not only inevitable, advocates and experts say, it is essential because plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles offer our best chance to address global warming, achieve energy security and move us beyond oil. ... "We can no longer rely on oil to provide the bulk of our transportation fuel. It's just that simple and that obvious," Jon Lauckner, head of global vehicle development for General Motors, said during the opening of the Plug-In 2008 conference in San Jose. "We believe the ultimate solution involves the electrification of the automobile as soon as possible. The discussion has shifted from if this happens to when this happens."...

In transportation, it looks a lot like 1910 What's she smokin? In 1910, sure, there were lots and lots and lots of electric vehicles on the road. The population of the world may have forgotten how popular the electric vehicle used to be, and that's a shame. But is today like 1910? The majority of cars on the road today and the majority of cars being sold are stinky gas burners, so it doesn't seem much like 1910.

In any case there are a growing resurgence of electric car makers. Heck, ZAP is even revivifying the old Detroit Electric brand name! While there are many small car companies building up steam to enter the vehicle market the business climate for launching a new car company is entirely unlike 1910. Today there are regulations out the wazoo with expensive crash testing and safety standards, just ask Tesla Motors how much they had to spend on their testing. That testing is what makes our cars and roads so safe but it does present a barrier to entry for potential electric car makers. And, those requirements are probably largely why ZAP and Aptera (?and others?) chose to sell three wheeled vehicles because motorcycles fall under different regulations than do four wheelers.

Subaru's Stella electric car concept In this article from Australia we learn of a new concept car that Suburu has put together. The electric Stella concept uses a 40-kilowatt electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries, which are recharged via mains power. This powertrain gives the electric Stella a maximum speed of 100km/h and a range of about 80km on a full charge.

Carmaker Mini plans to bring electric models to US, U.S. will see electric Minis in 2009: BMW has announced several ideas related to selling the Mini in non-gasoline varieties. One plan is to bring 500 electrified Mini's for sale in the U.S. with details as to where and purchase arrangements being unknown. They're also thinking of a diesel version which would allow for biodiesel use.

Nissan Says Electric Cars Will Be Quickly Profitable, Nissan's new green digs reflect shift toward zero-emission vehicles: Nissan is planning to sell "electric vehicles" in 2010 (they probably mean plugin hybrid?) and expect to go to profitability pretty quick. Mebbe their car isn't a plug-in since their CEO is quoted saying he doesn't want a range extender or hybrid, these won't be partially zero emissions, they will be zero emissions period. The range is said to be 100 miles.

Brown drives green car revolution, Ministers embrace electric car revolution: PM Gordon Brown is pushing for green clean cars and a clean energy future. I suppose that since the North Sea oil fields have already peaked England is recognizing that the oil supply nirvana they've had for awhile is now over. In any case in the UK they are much less in denial about the need to shift to clean energy and clean cars. Great.