JMU AFV Lab Blog

I came across this article on the “Wired” blog this morning and thought it was especially relevant to our own “electric scooter” project in the AFV Lab. It’s quite an elegant electric motorcycle! To save bandwidth, I didn’t put up all the article, go to http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/08/two-wheels-zero.html to see the rest of the article, especially the pictures at the bottom. For more information, check out the company webpage, http://www.zeromotorcycles.com/.

Two Wheels, Zero Emissions and Loads of Fun

By Chuck Squatriglia August 20, 2008 | 4:07:09 PMCategories: Electric Vehicles, Motorcycles

Saiki started developing the Zero X five years ago after participating in a NASA round table analyzing transportation technology. He became convinced electric drivetrains are the best way forward and motorcycles the logical place to develop them. They’re smaller and less complex than cars, and the regulatory hurdles to getting them on the road aren’t as high.

Off-road bikes lend themselves to electric power because they’re typically ridden short distances, so range isn’t that big an issue. Electric motors also provide gobs or torque, a big plus in motocross riding. The Zero X produces power instantaneously, and it’ll catch you off guard because the bike is all but silent. Snap the throttle too hard and you’ll lift the front wheel. “The throttle is like a light switch,” Saiki says. “It’s on or it’s off.”

A low-speed mode limits the bike to about 30 mph and is good for tooling around. Switch to high-speed mode and you get unfettered acceleration to about 57 mph. The Zero X will hit 30 mph in under two seconds and 57 in about twice that. Juice comes from a proprietary li-ion battery that weighs 40 pounds and provides about two hours of riding time. It recharges in about two hours using any household socket, and you can get a spare for $2,950.

The Zero X has hydraulic disc brakes and fully adjustable suspension with about 8 inches of travel. It looks a bit like a big mountain bike, which isn’t a coincidence. Saiki, who holds a degree in aerospace engineering, has designed bicycles for Santa Cruz, Haro and Mountain Cycles.

He worked through seven prototypes and designed most of the 300 or so components himself. The bikes are built in a factory near Santa Cruz, and Saiki hopes to turn out 300 a month by next summer. He’s sold 127 since April (Google’s Larry Page bought three) and has a waiting list of 77 people, including two guys who signed up after seeing the bike outside our office.

Saiki says about 75 percent of buyers are seasoned motocross riders, which speaks to the bike’s dirt cred. Saiki had motocross hall-of-famer Jeff Emig flog a prototype at a track in Las Vegas last year, and Emig says it’s the real deal. “I’m expecting the production version to have a huge impact on the motor sports industry,” he says. We probably won’t see James Stewart or Ryan Villopoto racing them anytime soon (although Saiki says the AMA is interested in racing e-bikes) but the guys at Dirt Rider (.pdf) called an early prototype of the Zero X “the inevitable sound of the future of off-road motorcycle riding.”

As for Zero Motorcycle’s future, it includes a street version good for 70 mph and a range of 60 miles. Look for it in January with a sticker price of $9,000.

Photos by Emily Lang / wired.com

Source: http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/08/two-wheels-zero.html

Dan Drumheller of our AFV Lab submitted this article for the blog.  My first impression is that none of these vehicles are, in my opinion, prime candidates for electric vehicles.  My idea of the best platform for an electric vehicle is a small, compact car that is easy to maneuver in traffic, and park in crowded, cramped lots at shopping malls, train stations, and employers.  Electric vehicles are most suitable for short trips of 40 or so miles round trip.  For the most part, these trips usually include just one driver and some cargo, like groceries, golf bags, tennis equipment, etc.  These Chrysler vehicles, on the other hand, seem to me to be primarily “second cars” that are better suited for family or recreational usage with their longer trips and limited usage, and, thus, in my opinion, not really suited for typical electric vehicle operation.

Having said all that, I must say that I am fascinated by the comment about the Jeep:  …The Jeep EV is a four-door Wrangler Unlimited that uses the same gas-electric power combination as the minivan, but with four electric motors — one for each wheel… I’m anxious to see how they do that.  If they put the motors in the wheels, they have the best, most efficient, mechanical arrangement, but they increase unsprung weight, especially in the front, which is a liability in offroad usage.  If they attach the motors to the frame to reduce unsprung weight, they introduce power robbing CV or universal joints and shafts.   Comments?

Chrysler Electric Vehicles slated for 2010

Chrysler “plugged-in” the gauntlet on Tuesday, unveiling a secret lineup of electric vehicles, pledging to bring at least one of them to showrooms within two years.

In 2007, Chrysler announced the launch of a program called ENVI aimed at developing electric cars, but other than a few nonrunning concepts displayed at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, not much information on the project had leaked out since. Now, in a move aimed at cheering up the company’s employees and stealing the spotlight from the recently introduced Chevy Volt, Chrysler is showing its hand to the world.

• Click here for photos.

The most exciting of the three, the two-seat Dodge EV, is a pure electric sports car with a range of 150 to 200 miles on a full charge. Looking suspiciously like the $109,000 Tesla Roadster, the Dodge is clearly based on the same Lotus-sourced platform that underpins that exotic electric. With advanced lithium-ion batteries powering a 268-horsepower motor, it can accelerate from 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.

For the family, the Chrysler EV is a reengineered Town and Country minivan that Chrysler claims will be able to travel 40 miles on electric power alone. Similar to the Volt, it also carries a small gasoline engine on board that can charge the batteries and extend the range of the vehicle to up to 400 miles, at an average of 50 miles per gallon.

The Jeep EV is a four-door Wrangler Unlimited that uses the same gas-electric power combination as the minivan, but with four electric motors — one for each wheel — that give it the kind of off-road capability buyers have come to expect from the brand.

Projected prices were not revealed, and Chrysler is not saying which of the vehicles will be the first to come to market. But the company says it will have 100 of them on the road in test fleets in 2009, along with its latest entry into the growing neighborhood electric vehicle segment, the Peapod. This small four-seat bubble car has a top speed of 25 miles per hour and is aimed mainly at residents of gated communities, who will be able to drive it up to 30 miles on a charge.

• Click here for more information from Chrysler.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426522,00.html

I came across this website and thought I would throw it out for discussion.  I have excerpted a few items, but go to http://www.poweredbypropane.net/, to read the full information.

Welcome to Powered by Propane

Are you looking for a good propane conversion kit?  At poweredbypropane.net we provide propane power kits for 3,4,5,6, and 8 cylinder vehicles. From small engine propane conversion kits to auto propane conversions of larger vehicles we have the equipment and the design techniques to make your automobile run on propane.

Whether you are doing fleet automobile propane conversions or simply want propane conversion kits for your own vehicles, we have the auto propane conversion kits to convert your gas vehicle into a propane/gas hybrid. Do you own propane powered vehicles? Are you tired of being held hostage to the gas industry? Turn to automotive propane conversion and enjoy the ability to switch from a gas vehicle to a gas to propane conversion vehicle. For expertise turn to poweredbypropane.net for all you’re propane conversion needs!

What I found interesting about this setup is that it is dual fuel, as the gasoline system is left intact, and the system can be manually converted back to gasoline.  One could use the propane from a home tank for the majority of travel, then convert to gasoline when going on a trip.  Here is an excerpt

A miniature console is the only element of the system installed inside the drivers cabin. This small unit allows the driver to observe the level of propane in the tank(depends on what kind of tank setup you have), indicates the stages of employment of the ECU, and allows for a manual change from propane to gasoline.

The prices seem reasonable to me, too

Kit Contents: A Poweredbypropane conversion kit may not include all necessary mounting brackets for your particular vehicle as these kits are universal. The installer may need to fabricate brackets to mount LPG rails, Reducers or other components. All parts must be secured properly to ensure there are no leaks

3-4 Cylinder Conversion Kit

$1 195.00

5-6 Cylinder Conversion Kit

$1 375.00

8 Cylinder Conversion Kit

$1 650.00

I’m not familiar with the price of propane vs. the price of gasoline and therefore what the payout time would be for such a conversion.  I don’t know what the gas tax implications would be for this for using fuel that doesn’t have the gas tax included at purchase, either.