JMU AFV Lab Blog

Saw this blog entry this morning and thought it made some interesting points. Check it out at http://gas2.org/2008/09/30/volt-over-tesla-series-and-plug-in-hybrids-more-likely-to-be-game-changers/. Especially scroll down and look at the comments others have already made.

Volt Beats Tesla: Series and Plug-In Hybrids More Likely to be Game Changers
Written by Andrew Gilbertson
Published on September 30th, 2008
9 Comments
Posted in Engines, Hybrid-electric EVs, Plug-in hybrid EVs

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Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Andrew Gilbertson who is a 2008 graduate of Vermont Law School.
A senior economist at the Argonne National Laboratory has come to an interesting conclusion: vehicles that rely on internal combustion engines are superior to electric vehicles in terms of what consumers would buy and what would save significant fuel.

Even though Tesla is delivering their cars to consumers several years before the Volt hits the show rooms, from the perspective of Dan Santini, you and I are more likely to get our hands on Volt-style vehicles first.

Some of the main obstacles that stand between us and pure EVs were identified at the 1st International Conference on Advanced Lithium Batteries for Automotive Applications, sponsored by the Argonne National Laboratory (where Dan Santini works).

First and foremost, the cost of the batteries boost vehicle prices too high for the average consumer. Recharging time, coupled with the lack of a national system of quick-charge stations, would make the vehicle unattractive to most consumers who want the freedom to travel across the country without long stops for recharging.

The Volt, with its series hybrid design, reduces the importance of these two concerns. By relying less on batteries, the cost of the batteries becomes less of a factor, while having a combustion engine that uses an established distribution system as a backup gives the owner the freedom to drive wherever they want.

It seems to me that more car makers should read the writing on the wall and go the series hybrid route (apparently, some are).

Even though series hybrids might not get better mileage right now, it should be obvious that at some point an energy storage technology will be developed that will be cheaper, denser, and cleaner than gas or diesel. When that time comes, the car makers that can simply replace the combustion generators with the new storage technology will be way ahead of the ones who haven’t yet developed a electric drive system.

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 saw an article on the autobloggreen blog this morning on Yamaha and Honda electric motorcycles.  One of the links in the article led me to this item on Yamaha’s concept vehicles at the Tokyo Auto Show in 2007.  Below is the text of that item. I was particularly drawn to the “DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell)” concept used in this concept vehicle.  This concept has already been applied to power sources for laptops and such, but this is the first I’ve seen for a vehicle.  Maybe this could be a project for the AFV lab?

Carrying on Yamaha’s onslaught of the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and their slew of environmentally-friendly cycle concepts, we now introduce you to the FC-Dii. Like the LUXAIR that we showed you previously, the FC-Dii appears to be based on a model originally shown in 2005 called the FC-me. Like that machine, the FC-Dii gets its power from a fuel cell which uses Yamaha’s methanol-water solution. The fuel cell creates electricity which continuously charges the on-board lithium ion battery pack. That battery pack is also removable for charging and replacement purposes. According to Yamaha, their fuel cell “features the highest level of power density in the 1kW class… which achieves a top-level performance of 30% system efficiency for a DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Cell) system.”

The bike itself appears quite small, which makes sense considering that Yamaha would want to keep the machine as light as possible. Nothing really appears to be innovative here besides the fuel cell system, and a good deal of the components appear to carry over from the FC-me. AS soon as we are able to get better pictures, we’ll be sure to update this post.

Related:

• Tokyo 2007 Preview: Yamaha on two-wheels - Tesseract - Part 2 of 6
  
• Tokyo 2007 Preview: Yamaha on two-wheels - LUXAIR - Part 1 of 6
  

[Source: Yamaha Motors]

I saw this item from SmartPlanet News this morning.  Could this work in the U.S.?  I am especially intrigued by the last paragraph, …Utility RWE said it envisions that car batteries from the 100 electric cars in Berlin could feed electricity back into the grid to lessen the load during peak times…. Comments?

One of the charging stations in Berlin

Car giant Daimler and German utility RWE will launch a network of 500 battery-charging stations next year for a trial meant to give electric car drivers the freedom to power up on the go.

The ‘e-mobility Berlin’ project will see Daimler and its Smart wing supply 100 electric city cars. RWE will install and run the charging stations in Berlin.

The cars will be equipped with communication equipment that will allow consumers to have their cars charged at different locations and billed to one account. Although the exact models are yet to be confirmed, the Smart Ed is a natural choice and Daimler told SmartPlanet an electric version of an A or B-class Mercedes Benz could also be used.

Charging stations are expected to be installed at people’s homes as well as public spaces, such as offices, shopping centers, and car parks.

The cars’ lithium-ion batteries (from an undisclosed supplier) will be optimized for rapid charging and longer range. Those same batteries will be used in a Mercedes hybrid model as early as next year, the companies said.

The effort, modelled on a similar effort in London, is being financially supported by German government agencies as part of environmental policy.

Project Better Place, founded by former SAP executive Shai Agassi, is taking a similar approach in an effort to make electric car ownership more attractive.

It has signed on the governments of Israel and Denmark to test a system where electric car drivers in a restricted driving area can replace batteries in a network of stations.

Utility RWE said it envisions that car batteries from the 100 electric cars in Berlin could feed electricity back into the grid to lessen the load during peak times.