A California-based start-up will begin selling electric cars in Israel next month that include a subscription package for a leased battery and the costs of recharging the vehicle.

Instead of owning the batteries, consumers will be able to purchase a subscription for a certain number of kilometers per year, much like cellphone owners purchase their minutes.

The company, Better Place, hopes the strategy will help the industry overcome one of the major challenges facing widespread adoption of electric cars: the limited range of existing battery technology.

Better Place will sell an electric sedan, made by Renault, that will have a range of about 100 miles per charge; for longer trips, car owners will be able to exchange batteries at swap stations located across Israel.

One package includes the cost of the vehicle and 25,000 miles per year for three years for $46,000.

According to Better Place, that subscription would end up costing consumers 35 percent less than purchasing and fueling a gas-powered vehicle over three years.

The subscriptions also include the installation of home charging stations.

Article appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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Paris, which has already a four-year-old bicycle-sharing program, Vêlib, will soon be home to approximately 3,000-shared electric cars. The car project, known as Autolib, is due to be introduced by December of this year and is financed by Bolloré SA, one of the companies owned by bold entrepreneur, Vincent Bolloré. For a nominal monthly subscription fee along with usage charges, Parisians will be able to use the cars and charge them at one of more than 1,000 self-service charging stations throughout the city.

Autolib’s goal is to ease the growing traffic and pollution in Paris by reducing carbon emissions. The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, who pushed for the shared bike program, Velolib, is a strong supporter of the e-car scheme despite the fact that close to 8,000 bicycles were stolen during the first two years of the four-year old Velolib program. The name is a combination of vêlo or bicycle, and liberté, or freedom, and the program has been copied by other cities, including London. While electric cars are more difficult to steal, their batteries could attract thieves.

Italian automobile design firm Pininfarina, a partner of Bolloré, designed the bubble-shaped Bluecars as they are known. The cars seat four and are powered by a lithium metal polymer battery that allows them to travel about 150 miles between charges with a maximum speed of close to 60 miles per hour; it will take around four hours to charge the batteries. The cars will come with built-in GPS and emergency call buttons.

To subscribe to the Autolib program, drivers will need a driver’s license and will be charged $17 a month and a flat fee for each half hour of use. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Bolloré’s company spent $2 billion over several years to develop the e-car and battery, and he says it will cost several millions more to get the cars up and running. Paris city officials hope the program will attract about 200,000 subscribers in order to break even. Currently, 58 percent of Parisians do not own a car, according to the Paris city hall.

Article by Julie Mitchell, appearing courtesy Celsias.

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Electric vehicles are often touted as much better for the environment than cars with internal combustion engines. But just what are the environmental costs associated with electric vehicles?

It Starts with Production
For starters, electric cars are still made with materials that are mined, refined, and produced in non sustainable ways. The energy used to produce these cars in factories comes from power plants. Tires use resources such as oil and wear out regularly with use. So, even during production, there are still negative environmental costs.

Maintenance
The electric engine only has one moving part, while the internal combustion engine has dozens. This means that there will be less of a need to replace, repair, or modify an electric engine. This, in turn, leads to less environmental degradation because there will be fewer breakdowns and fewer parts to produce.

On the Road
Once on the road, there are far less negative environmental effects. Now, instead of requiring gasoline to be burned, the electric car can plug into an electrical outlet for fuel. Yet, this energy is often produced from gas or coal burning power plants. Only when an electric car gets electricity from solar, wind, or other sustainable power plants is their environmental impact severely reduced.

Emissions
However, the electric car has far fewer emissions while it is being driven around. The only emissions are tiny bits of sulfur that are released when the battery is charged and unplugged. These amounts, however, are so small as to be practically non-existent, especially when compared to the emissions associated with the internal combustion engine. For instance, large amounts of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide are released during normal operations of an internal combustion engine. However, if the electricity is derived from coal or natural gas power plants, then driving an electrical car requires more emissions from those power plants.

Batteries
The electric battery is usually made of either lead acid or lithium. Fortunately, both of these chemicals are recyclable in large amounts. This negates much of the environmental impact for the battery. However, these chemicals are still mined, refined, and produced in ways that are generally unhealthy for the environment. This means that, once again, an electric car still has negative environmental consequences.

The Sum Effects of Electric Cars
If electricity is obtained from coal burning power plants, then the electric car can cause more, not fewer, emissions. So, while the electric car is a vast improvement over the internal combustion engine, it still has a negative impact on the environment. However, as more power plants switch to green energy, the negatives will decrease.

Article by Miles Walker, a freelance writer and blogger who usually compare car insurance deals over at CarinsuranceComparison.Org.

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What choice will consumers make? After attending the 2011 Toyota Sustainable Mobility Seminar in La Jolla, California (April 4-7, 2011), this is what I walked away thinking. In all respects, Americans are already asking themselves questions like this about the life they live. With regard to the cars we drive it is time to think hard about the way we drive and what we drive.

Presenters at the seminar addressed, and in many cases provided the current findings about fuel cells, hydrogen, electricity, the electric grid and electric cars. Economic forces, geopolitical forces and the DOE directed Future Transportation Fuels Study were explored in detail. The choices for a greener driving future are proliferating and each has its advantage and disadvantage.

The economic costs to our society in moving toward a greener driving future were reviewed in exploring the many mobility choices we must make as a society and as consumers. Again this year I loved being behind the wheel of the almost to market (Spring 2012?) Plug-in Hybrid Prius and with the announcement during the Seminar of the sale of the one-millionth Prius in the U.S., it’s easy to see that Toyota understands what the hybrid consumer is looking for.

Now a more focused approach to the spending of scarcer infrastructure/development dollars is warranted and the key to that approach will be all of us discussing what type of car we as consumers will pay a bit more for and how much it matters to us to be free to ”put the pedal to the metal’. It’s like turning out the lights when you leave the room, we all know we should do it but don’t always stop to think.

On Monday I drove the prototype test vehicle RAV4 EV as part of the launch of the demonstration program. The RAV4 EV I drove was converted from the V-6 model with Tesla power train system including motor, battery and additional Tesla parts. The specifications for this all-electric vehicle are 3,942 pounds, 37 kWh battery size, maximum V at 100 mph, acceleration 0-60 of 9.0 seconds, range of 80-120 miles and charge time of about 28 hours at 110V and 12 hours at 240V.

The vehicle will go to market sometime in 2010 as a collaboration of Toyota Motor Corporation and Tesla. It drove like any other SUV, I didn’t notice the sound, I didn’t get the sensation of anything different in acceleration or driving than an internal combustion engine, but at slow speed, coming to a stop I could detect a slight drag in the braking.

Standing around with the technicians I heard the vehicle will likely be built at the NUMMI Fremont, California location. There are sure to be many changes to the vehicle, not least of which was the novelty of the prototype-only, large, red “High Voltage Disconnect Switch” and caution with regard to letting us test drive it here in La Jolla while a gentle rain was falling.

There is always talk of range anxiety, and like most folks I can’t seem to walk too far away from the Prius Plug-in equivalent, but indeed for those looking for the feel of a regular SUV and the good green credentials, the RAV4 EV is their car. Getting out there and driving a VOLT in order to make the comparison is next.

I took a few snap-shot photos at the Seminar of both the prototype vehicles available for test driving and presentations by experts at the Hydrogen Panel and the Electricity Panel. To mention a few of the presenters, we heard from and asked questions of Dr. Peter Wells, Dr. Steven Kay, and Dr. Dawn Manley. Dr. Wells is an International Oil/Gas expert running his own firm. Dr. Kay is at University of California San Diego (Dean of Division of Biological Sciences) running a microbiology genetics lab on non-fossil based fuels and founding director of San Diego Center for Algae Biotechnology. Dr. Manley is at Livermore Sandia National Laboratory working on transportation energy analysis. During the Hydrogen Panel portion of the seminar we heard from Dr. C.E. Thomas, H2Gen Innovations, Dr. Scott Samuelsen, University of California Irvine, who also directs the National Fuel Cell Research Center for the Department of Energy and California Energy Commission, and Dr. Alan Weimer of University of Colorado Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. In the Electricity Panel portion of the seminar Dr. Linda Capuano, Vice President of Emerging Technology for Marathon Oil Corporation spoke. She is the Chair of the Coordinating Subcommittee of the National Petroleum Council (NPC) Future Transportation Fuels Study (at the direction of Secretary Chu). The origin of the NPC is a continuation of World War II government/industry cooperation to advise the United States Secretary of Energy. The Fuel Study group is composed of 25% oil/gas industry, 23% transportation industry, 12% consultants/financial companies and the rest is government plus NGO, end users and academia.

Thanks again to Toyota for the Sustainable Mobility Seminar that afforded us the opportunity to listen and ask questions of these and other experts in an informal and open atmosphere.

Article by Kathleen Neil, appearing courtesy Environmental News Network.

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The European Commission has adopted Transport 2050, a plan to increase mobility and decrease oil dependence which also reduces carbon emissions from the transportation sector by 60%. Eliminating conventionally fueled cars from city centers is a key tenet to the plan. U.K. Transport Minister Norman Baker said that such a decision rests in the authority of the individual cities.

To what degree the various levels of government should influence action in another level of government is often filled with contention. While Baker may not want to interfere with the domain of individual cities, the same does not hold true for individual people. Transport plans in the U.K. include a £5,000 credit to individuals purchasing electric cars.

The Transport 2050 white paper includes, “Charges and taxes do not fully reflect the societal costs of transport. The attempts at introducing policies to internalize the transport externalities and to remove present tax distortions have been unsuccessful. The road and aviation sector are the main beneficiaries of such distortions”.

Basically, the perceived cost of transport, especially via road or air, is less than the real cost. When the societal costs, including damage to the environment and public health, are included then Transport 2050 is a proactive move for the long term good of the European Union’s citizens and economy.

Transport 2050 also looks to unify and increase rail transport in the Union. European Union Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas said, “Curbing mobility is not an option. Nor is business as usual”, and “Freedom to travel is a basic right for our citizens and it is critical to the development of Europe’s business sector.”

Environmentalists are concerned that the goal of a 60% reduction in carbon emissions from the transport sector are not enough. It is wrong to sit back and hope technology will save the day but 2050 is 39 years in the future. The more rapidly the situation is addressed the better but 39 years gives time for continued efforts to further reduce transport related carbon emissions.

Adding to the fray, Baker said, “”We will not be banning cars from city centres anymore than we will be having rectangular bananas,” as quoted by the BBC. Seems like a silly stance since an optimistic outlook has the transition to non-conventionally fueled vehicles occurring for a number of reasons anyway. As to the square bananas, even though the E.U. is ahead of some countries regarding genetically modified food, it may be best to check with Monsanto before placing any bets. Who knew Baker was an agriculture expert too. After all, they aren’t genetically modified, but we do have cubic or “square” watermelons. For the curious, they are grown in glass cubes.

Article by Adrian King, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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Electric cars are finally coming to market in the U.S., but what is the future potential for this much-touted technology? A good way to find out would be to launch demonstration projects in selected U.S. cities to determine if, given incentives and the proper infrastructure, the public will truly embrace plug-in vehicles.

As instability in the Middle East pushes oil prices past $100 per barrel and gasoline prices toward $4 a gallon in the U.S., the need to find better ways to fuel our vehicles has never been more urgent. Some advocates see electric cars as the most promising solution and are urging policymakers to ensure their widespread use through federal subsidies or regulation, such as a requirement that all automakers offer a certain percentage of plug-in vehicles in their fleets. Skeptics argue that electric cars are too expensive, that taxpayer money should not be used to stimulate the purchase of luxury goods, and that market forces alone should determine the future of electric cars.

We believe that the right policy lies between these positions and that there is a clear path to test whether electric vehicles can be viable on a mass scale. The U.S. Department of Energy — in partnership with automakers, car dealers, electric utilities, universities, and local governments — should coordinate a national demonstration program of 500,000 to 1,000,000 electric vehicles in 10 to 20 designated communities from coast to coast. That was the chief recommendation of a recent in-depth study, in which we participated, that was conducted by a group of national experts on electric vehicles. These experts said that by concentrating the many pieces needed to create a viable market for electric vehicles — a variety of cars and trucks for lease and sale, a robust network of charging stations, state and local policies to make home recharging easy — these demonstration projects would give the country a clear sense of whether electric vehicles will play a significant role in the nation’s transportation future.

At first glance, the market outlook for electric vehicles seems bright; when compared on an energy-equivalent basis, electricity prices are 60 to 80 percent lower than gasoline prices. Yet the future of electric vehicles is far from assured. Will the high price of batteries come down sufficiently as economies of scale kick in? Will oil prices fall again as new reserves and drilling technologies are discovered, as has happened with natural gas? Will other technologies — such as hybrid cars or vehicles powered by natural gas, ethanol, or hydrogen — win the competition against electric cars?

Such questions may not be answered in the near future, but a well-planned national demonstration program for electric vehicles can help determine the promise, limitations, and costs of this technology. And once the demonstration is over and the facts gathered and disseminated, electric cars should be forced to compete in a technology-neutral marketplace where other promising alternatives are also considered.

How would a comprehensive EV demonstration program work?

The goal of the projects is to push the number of electric cars and EV infrastructure toward a tipping point.

The most cost-effective demonstration would stimulate sales or leasing of electric cars in a limited number of designated communities that have a range of weather patterns, commuting norms, electric utility systems, and mass transit policies. Nissan and GM currently are concentrating some of their early marketing for electric vehicles in selected states, including California, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. Given the current state of battery technology, demonstration projects should focus on commuter cars and delivery vehicles in urban areas because these vehicles typically make round trips within the range of a single charge.

The goal of the demonstration projects is to increase the number of electric cars and electric vehicle infrastructure in a community toward a tipping point. To reach that point, government and the private sector must take several key steps: municipalities and electric utilities should begin to modernize their practices, such as streamlining the permitting process for setting up home rechargers and implementing time-of-day pricing of electricity so recharging occurs primarily at night; more businesses to supply recharging stations for homes, workplaces, and shopping malls must be launched; and the development of a competent service and repair system for electric vehicles must emerge. Perhaps most importantly, as the infrastructure for electric vehicles grows, initial owners can be better assured that they will be able to re-sell their vehicles in the used-car market.

Without government leadership, no single company has adequate incentive to coordinate all of the stakeholders and agencies to bring a meaningful demonstration to fruition. The creation of 10 to 20 demonstration sites would not involve appropriating new public funds, but rather reallocating and focusing already-authorized government funding. If the demonstration sites are created in the near future, the results of this preliminary leap into the world of electric vehicles should be clear by 2020.

Incentives for electric cars may be spread too thinly, without a focus on a smaller number of communities.

By electric cars, we refer to plug-in vehicles that make use of the electric grid for all or most of their energy. The Nissan Leaf and GM Volt, both now for sale, are generating significant consumer interest, at least among the “early adopter” community. The Leaf uses no gasoline whatsoever but has a range of only 70 to 100 miles before it must be recharged. The Volt, with a small back-up gasoline engine, can travel 375 miles before it must be recharged or refueled, and is sometimes classified as a plug-in hybrid. However, the lithium-ion batteries in both of these vehicles are heavy and expensive. While the real cost of batteries is declining, an electric car today still costs $10,000 to $20,000 more than a similar-sized gasoline car.

Congress, the Obama administration, and regulators in California and Washington, D.C. have already enacted numerous policies to support the production, sale, and use of electric vehicles. These include a generous federal tax credit — up to $7,500 — with some states adding up to $5,000 more in purchase incentives. The federal economic stimulus package is subsidizing recharging stations in various cities around the country, including Chicago and Baltimore. Federal loans and grants are available to manufacturers throughout the supply chain, from makers of lithium-ion cells to selected firms that assemble electric cars. California has mandated that each large vehicle manufacturer offer a small number of “zero-emission” vehicles by 2016, and some states and communities are offering HOV lane access and special parking benefits to users of electric vehicles.

So there is no shortage of political interest in electric cars. But current policies have two key shortcomings. The first is that incentives for electric vehicles may be spread too thinly around the country. The second is that no coordinated plan exists for evaluating the de facto demonstration that is now underway. Key data — who chooses to buy the vehicles, how the vehicles are driven, where they are recharged, and how utilities adjust their billing systems — is not being collected. Without rigorous evaluation, it will be impossible to learn from the successes — and failures — of an electric vehicle rollout.

A technology may die after a successful pilot, before barriers to mass commercialization can be overcome.

As a nation, we do not need to use more taxpayer dollars to persuade technological enthusiasts and green consumers that they should buy an electric car. Tens of thousands of them will purchase a Leaf or Volt, despite the high price and a shortage of public recharging stations. But for sales of electric cars to achieve critical mass in any single community, the sales must expand to fleet buyers and mainstream retail purchasers. In the absence of government incentives, these buyers are unlikely to be convinced that the benefits of electric cars justify changing their driving behavior and paying a high sticker price. So instead of expending more public money in all communities, the existing public commitments need to be concentrated in a few.

But why should taxpayers support a national demonstration of an expensive, emerging technology? Part of the answer is the demonstrated failure of markets to address the persistent problems of oil insecurity and climate change. Yet even if the price of gasoline were raised high enough to account for these concerns, emerging technologies (such as the electric car) would still be disadvantaged compared to mature technologies because of imperfections in the process of innovation in the auto industry. This is in part due to imperfections in patent laws in the auto sector, which allow one manufacturer’s innovation to be easily copied by others, thus discouraging companies to be the first to invest in new technologies like electric drive systems.

In addition, once an innovative technology is invented and pilot-tested on a small number of vehicles, manufacturers and their suppliers face a “valley of death” in the commercialization process. Even a promising technology may die after a successful pilot, before the barriers to mass commercialization can be overcome. Someone needs to spend significant resources to educate the public about electric vehicles, change the permitting practices of municipalities, coordinate with local utilities to ensure uninterrupted electricity supplies, and create an entirely new supply chain — including servicing and disposal — for electric vehicles.

For sure, most automakers will offer a few plug-in vehicles to satisfy California regulators and achieve good publicity. But without some temporary government support — consumer tax credits, loan guarantees for automakers, and research and development funding — to reduce the risks of high-volume production, no manufacturer has adequate incentive to be the innovator who takes the big risk of mass producing electric cars.

A national demonstration program, coupled with community information programs, can reduce the risk to manufacturers and suppliers of making high-volume production commitments. The demonstration will also let the public see how this technology operates in the real world — its benefits, costs, and complications. Once the demonstration is over, all public subsidy of electric vehicles — except for basic R&D into new battery chemistries — should be terminated.

It is too early to tell if electric cars will be a key piece of the technology portfolio that addresses the global problems of energy insecurity and climate change. The technology has potential. Now it is the responsibility of policymakers to nurture and test that potential to give it a fair chance in the marketplace.

Article by John D. Graham and Natalie Messer, appearing courtesy Yale Environment 360.

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Since taking office, President Obama and his Administration have taken unprecedented steps to build a clean energy economy in this country. You may have already read about the events and announcements across the Administration in October on this front. I wanted to highlight a few items from the last couple of weeks:

• Helping Middle Class Families Save on Energy Bills. As part of our efforts to remove barriers standing in the way of a strong and sustainable home energy-efficiency industry, the Vice President announced several new agency initiatives that will help middle-class families save money on their energy bills. 
• Helping Farmers and Small Businesses Reduce Energy Costs. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced $30 million in loans and grants that will generate and save energy for our nation's farmers and rural small businesses for decades to come.  The loans and grants will go to more than 500 farmers, ranchers, and rural businesses for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects across the country. In each case, the projects announced will cut energy costs by 25 to 65 percent, amounting to an estimated 2.9 million kilowatt hours of energy saved. Among other things, this funding will help replace outdated equipment, such as inefficient grain dryers, support energy production from anaerobic digesters, insulate buildings, and allow recipients to incorporate renewable energy technologies into their operations.
• Large Scale Solar Power on Public Lands.  Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar approved a large-scale solar energy project on U.S. public lands in Nevada – a 500-megawatt facility that willprovide electricity to about 150,000 homes and create 1,300 construction jobs and up to 200 permanent operation jobs.  Since early October, the Secretary has approved a total of eight large-scale solar energy projects that combined will generate 3,500 megawatts to power more than 1 million homes and create 6,000 construction jobs and 700 permanent plant operations jobs.
• Cars that Will Run on Compressed Natural Gas. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced an offer of a nearly $50 million conditional loan commitment that will support the development of the six-passenger MV-1, a factory-built wheelchair accessible vehicle that will run on compressed natural gas.  The Vehicle Production Group estimates that the project is expected to create over 900 jobs and that it will produce approximately 22,650 vehicles per year when at full capacity.
• Greening the Federal Supply Chain. General Services Administrator Martha Johnson and White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley recently announced a collaboration between the federal government and vendors and suppliers to create a greener and more efficient supply chain.
• Modernizing Our Electric Grid and Powering Electric Cars. Cathy Zoi, the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the Department of Energy, took part in a ribbon cutting at the first public curbside electric vehicle charging station here in the nation’s capital.  The Department of Energy also awarded $19 million, as part of a public-private investment of more than $30 million, for five projects to increase reliability, efficiency and security of our nation’s electric grid. 

Article by Chris Lu, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary

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As the electric vehicle market expands, the biggest names in automobile manufacturing are drawn towards adapting some of their latest models to the plug instead of gasoline. While Japan has had little issue with creating entire lines of hybrid and electric vehicles, some of Europe’s biggest names have been taking their time. For example, Audi, Mercedes Benz, and Volkswagen have announced a variety of electric, hydrogen, and hybrid vehicles in the last couple of years though few are near a major release. BMW seems to be taking an even steadier approach, preferring to keep most of the electric concepts just that: concepts. However, no long content with merely making concepts, BMW’s electric department is preparing to unleash their own special brand of electric vehicles on the market and they are hoping to do it as soon as possible.

According to a statement released by the German automotive company last week, BMW plans to invest nearly $550 million into electric cars that would be slated for release by 2013. A large portion of the funds are going into the expansion of their newest factory located in Leipzig, Germany, which will make the factory the first in Germany to mass produce battery powered electric vehicles. While the exact types of electric cars that will be built at the plant are unknown, BMW has announced that they will begin manufacturing their Megacity model at a nearby factory.

The BMW Megacity is one of BMW’s most publicized electric vehicle projects since concepts were released and rumors began to circulate some time ago. Now, with the projected release date of 2013 in mind, BMW has been more forthcoming with details about the car. The four door sedan is meant to be one of BMW’s more affordable electric cars with a potential price similar to that of the Nissan LEAF, though many believe the price tag will end up being a little higher. BMW has also said that they are planning on making it match, if not exceed, an electric equivalent of roughly thirty five miles per gallon.

Aside from their Megacity electric vehicle, BMW also has plans for several hybrid and electric sports cars. The Vision EfficientDynamics Concept car, BMW’s latest concept, is an all carbon fiber sports car that will marry a diesel engine with electric components. While the all electric range of the Vision concept is a mere thirty one miles, BMW has said that the total range is over 400 miles when using both diesel and electric power. The car is expected to have over 320 horsepower once it has been completed and BMW has said that will emit roughly 70% less carbon emissions than their M6 model, which has similar performance.

In the end, we will have to wait until 2013 to see if our wait for BMW’s electric vehicles will be worth it. If anything, BMW is excited about their jump into the market and they believe that their vehicles could end up being the future for electric vehicle drivers.

Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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There is no denying that electric cars are going to be one of the biggest components of the future of green vehicles. The ease by which they are made, compared to other green vehicle types, and the rapid technological development in the industry ensures electric’s place in history. However, where some may be content in knowing where electric is going and may decide to allow their designs remain unchanged; one company is striving to radically alter the way electric cars are charged. Specifically, they plan to totally eliminate the need to plug in and charge electric cars.

Halo IPT is a New Zealand based company that is dedicated to taking electric green vehicles and making them entirely wireless. Using magnetic fields, Halo IPT plans to implement pads along highways, parking areas, and at homes that would correspond with pads that would be installed underneath electric vehicles. The two pads would react with each other and create an electric charge similar to the way most wireless charging systems work with home electronics. Halo IPT’s plan is to have these pads implemented along highways while maintenance is being done on them and to have them connected to the electrical infrastructure already connected to the highways. This would allow for an effortless installation of the system while also cutting down on the money that would be needed in order to begin implementing this plan.

While the overall plan is indeed a revolutionary new way of charging for green transportation, it does have some kinks in it that would need to be worked out. According to the company, the method of paying would be handled electronically through tariffs that the driver would set. The idea is that each driver would have a set tariff that would allow them to simply park at a designated charging pad and be charged for exactly the amount of time they were there. Beyond that, an exact pricing plan has not been ironed out and it would seem that the payment plan for this kind of service might be one of the biggest obstacles drivers would need to get over for adopting Halo IPT’s service beyond the physical implementation of the technology on vehicles and roadways.

Currently, Halo IPT is hoping to begin a commercial testing of their green vehicle technology sometime in 2012. In order to get themselves to the point where they would be able to perform a full commercial demonstration, the company is asking for companies and organizations to adopt the technology in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Whether or not they will receive widespread support remains to be seen, but they are not necessarily setting themselves up for failure either. With their plan firmly set, Halo IPT believes it will only be a matter of time before their wireless charging technology can be fully implemented across New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and even beyond.

Article by Richard Cooke, appearing courtesy Justmeans.

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Strangely enough Edison had one of the first electric vehicles and Detroit made them until World War II. Then they died until in the 1990s some electric battery driven cars were recreated as something brand new to the marketplace. Then they withered and were reborn again in the present age of locomotion. Why was this? Is it doomed never to quite win a marker place niche? Although electric cars often give good acceleration and have generally acceptable top speed, the lower powered batteries available in 2010 compared with Carbon-based fuels means that electric cars need batteries that are fairly large fraction of the vehicle mass but still often give a low travel range between charges. Recharging can also take significant lengths of time. For shorter range commuter type journeys, rather than long journeys, electric cars are practical forms of transportation and can be inexpensively recharged overnight but some place to charge is necessary.

Who built the first electric car?

There is some debate as to who built the first electric car. Credit usually goes to Scottish inventor Robert Anderson, who built an electric carriage with non-rechargeable electric cells. Around the same time, Dutch inventor Sibrandus Stratingh created an electric vehicle, as did Thomas Davenport of Vermont.

Detroit Electric (1907 – 1939) was an automobile brand produced by the Anderson Electric Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. They were known as high-end, reliable cars popular with women and the wealthy. Detroit Electrics were most popular during the years before, during and after World War I, when gasoline prices were high and gasoline-powered cars were unreliable and difficult to start. Offered with lead-acid batteries or an optional Edison nickel-iron battery, Detroit Electrics had top speeds around 20 mph and a reliable range of 80 miles. What killed them was that gasoline driven cars became more efficient and less expensive to operate and build. The first battery driven car did not compete and did not evolve.

Fuel efficiency standards

Many automakers have conceded that electrification of some kind — hybrids, plug-in hybrids or battery electrics — is the only way they will meet tightening Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency standards. Ford, for example, has said 25 percent of the vehicles it sells by 2020 will be electrified. The current rule requires automakers to achieve a fleet-average fuel economy of 35.5 mpg by 2016, and there is talk of increasing it to as much as 62 mpg by 2025.  That and higher gasoline costs will assist electrification.

The earlier push for electric type vehicles in the 1990s had the same environmental need but the government is forcing the industry’ s direction more than then. The Barack Obama administration has set aside $25 billion to spur the development of electric vehicles. It also has allocated another $2.4 billion for battery and EV component manufacturers and $4 billion for smart-grid projects. Electric vehicles also qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, and several states offer further incentives.

Range anxiety

Range anxiety is a reason that many automakers marketed electric vehicles as daily drivers suitable for city trips and other short hauls. The average American drives less than 40 miles per day; so a typical electric vehicle would have been adequate for the daily driving needs of about 90% of U.S. consumers.

The Tesla (electric) Roadster gets 245 miles per charge; more than double that of other prototypes and evaluation fleet cars currently on the roads. The Roadster can be fully recharged in about 3.5 hours from a 220-volt, 70-amp home outlet.  Other electric vehicles are only approaching this sort of range and charge time.

But where can you recharge? For most it has to be at home where a special charger might be necessary. Some municipalities such as New York City are planning to build public charging stations but they are not yet common.

Smaller vehicles need smaller charge time and batteries.

Electric motorcycles and scooters are vehicles with two or three wheels that use electric motors to attain locomotion. Increasingly accepted as capable forms of transportation, particularly in densely populated urban areas, electric two-wheel vehicles is a category that includes electric bicycles, electric kick scooters, electric motorcycles, and electric scooters. According to a recent report from Pike Research, worldwide sales of electric two-wheel vehicles are expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 9.4% through 2016.

The Segway PT is a two-wheeled, self-balancing electric vehicle invented by Dean Kamen.

Computers and motors in the base of the device keep the Segway PT upright when powered on with balancing enabled. Users lean forward to go forward, lean back to go backward, and turn by using a “Lean Steer” handlebar, leaning it left or right. Segway PTs are driven by electric motors at up to 12.5 miles per hour. Use has been limited to special situations where roadways are not rough for example.

Article by Andy Soos, appearing courtesy ENN.

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