Slowly but steadily coast-to-coast travel in an electric vehicle is inching closer to reality. Though not as ubiquitous as the gas stations on the highways and arterial, the growing number of charging stations indicate a big shift coming our way. An interesting data nugget – more than half of the nation’s 8,051 electric-vehicle charging stations have opened since 2012.
Data Source: Alternative Fuels Data Center, U.S. Department of Energy; Image Courtesy: Popular Science
Legend:
Each hexagon represents the number of stations in that area.
Blue hexagons—mostly outside major cities—indicate those built in 2012 and 2013.
Mashable shared this nice infograph developed by Gocompare.com that breaks down the details of the much anticipated Hyperloop, a new form of transportation backed by innovative entrepreneur Elon Musk. It warrants attention, knowing it is backed by Elon Musk, who has already wowed the world with his transportation ventures like SpaceX and Tesla. It is expect that Elon Musk will unveil the Alpha design and discuss the details of the Hyperloop on August 12.. Can’t wait!
It is always an awesome sight to see how machines build another machine. As it happens, I can’t help but think if this venture succeeds, that would mark the first time Detroit really faced a serious challenge from Silicon Valley.. June 22nd, the announced delivery date for first batch of customers (other than the ones who got the Founder series) is just few days away and let’s see what is going to happen.. Hit or miss, you gotta love the boldness of Elon Musk to enter into this venture and fight the carmarking heavyweights of Detroit and other global auto industry powerhouses.
Here is a snippet of what Real Talkies wrote: In “Who killed the electric Car?” they followed a group of activists. “REvenge of the Electric Car” sets out to follow Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, GM’s vice chair – Bob Lutz, Nissan’s CEO Carlos Ghosn and DIY expert Greg “Gadget” Abbott . Each one allowed access to their journey over three years on condition that the film will not be released until 2011.
This is one rare occasion when we want all of them to win, their cumulative success is success for the earth, for us and for a life without dependence on fossil fuel. This remarkable film is on its festival circuit. DC folks can see it at SilverDocs on June 25th. For future screenings visit their website.
Dodge Circuit, a two-seat roadster, could be Chrysler’s first step into electric cars, provided the company survives.
A battery-powered 268-horsepower two-seat sports car is in line to become Chrysler LLC’s first electric car, provided the carmaker lives to see another day.
To survive, help is needed from Italy’s Fiat but, as negotiations with the Italian automaker bog down and the two week deadline to hammer out a partnership approaches, the company’s future – as well as its aspirations for an electric hot rod – are increasingly in doubt.
Chrysler’s first electric car, set to be introduced late next year around the same time as General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt, will be a sports car with a zero-to-60 time of under five seconds and a top speed of 120 miles hour.
It looks like the Dodge Circuit EV may have won the “who wants to be the first electric Chrysler concept to go into production” contest. Although they still haven’t officially made an announcement, Chrysler’s viability plan did list an “EV Roadster” as part of their 2010 product line. Based on the lightweight Lotus Europa and using drivetrain parts pilfered from UQM, the concept drew some fairly positive responses when it took on the newDodge Challenger in an impromptu drag race and later, when it got its crosshair makeover. Its 150 to 200 mile range is significantly higher than many other electric vehicles in the works and should add to its appeal.
“To be able to meet a 2010 timeline, you have to be pretty far along in development, and right now we are,” said Lou Rhodes, head of Chrysler’s electric car program, in a recent CNNMoney.com interview.
The Circuit is similar to the Tesla Roadster, a $109,000 sports car produced by a small California company. Pricing for the Circuit has not been announced but will likely undercut the Tesla.
The fastest way to reduce America’s dependence on oil imports is to convert petroleum-driven miles to electric ones by retrofitting the SUVs and pick-ups now on the road with rechargeable batteries. Here’s how.
Every president since Richard Nixon has vowed to reduce the United States’ dependence on foreign oil. None has succeeded. Imports—and thus America’s vulnerability to disruptions—have increased to where now they supply two-thirds of consumption. As former Secretary of State George Schultz asked: “How many more times must we be hit on the head by a two-by-four before we do something decisive about this acute problem?”
Our aim should not be total independence from foreign sources of petroleum. That is neither practical nor necessary in a world of interdependent economies. Instead, the objective should be developing a sufficient degree of resilience against disruptions in imports. Think of resilience as the ability to absorb a significant disruption, bigger than what could be managed by drawing down the strategic oil reserve.
Our resilience can be strengthened by increasing diversity in the sources of our energy. Commercial, industrial, and home users of oil can already use other sources of energy. By contrast, transportation is totally dependent on petroleum. This is the root cause of our vulnerability.Our goal should be to increase the diversity of energy sources in transportation. The best alternative to oil? Electricity. The means? Convert petroleum-driven miles to electric ones.
Electric miles do not necessarily mean relying on all-electric cars, which would require building an extensive and expensive infrastructure. They can be achieved by so-called plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). (Since many plug-in cars are modified hybrid automobiles, they are sometimes called PHEVs.) PEVs have both a gasoline-fueled engine and an electric motor. They first rely on the electricity stored onboard in a battery. When the battery is depleted, the vehicle continues to run on petroleum. The battery then can be charged when the vehicle is not in service.
The engineering and organizational issues involved in retrofitting on a large scale are far from trivial. The biggest problem, however, is the availability of batteries. The most suitable battery technology, which offers both a sufficient range and enough power to provide the acceleration required by today’s drivers, is the lithium-ion battery system. Current battery-manufacturing capacity is limited, and nearly all of it is dedicated to supplying batteries for the nearly 200 million laptop computers and other handheld electronic devices built each year. Making the batteries required for one million vehicles would mean doubling current manufacturing output.
Click here to read the entire article (Register for Free to read and hear the entire discussion).
NOTE:
TransportGooru is proud to share Andy Grove’s keynote address on the critical importance; and business opportunity and viability; of moving transportation from oil to electricity.
One of the great criticisms of electric vehicles is the power they rely on often comes from fossil fuels, leading critics to question how “green” they are. A British firm has a solution for that — a carport topped with photovoltaic cells that can charge an EV.
Specialty glass and plastic manufacturer Romag says the PowerPark is just the thing for parking lots where electric vehicles may one day compete for spots to plug in. The first PowerPark was installed at the company’s headquarters, and Romag says additional installations are planned around the United Kingdom.
So far, the cost of installation and materials varies based on volume and location, but Webster said that the canopies could be purchased singly or in groups. Pricing “should be competitive with other forms of BIPV.” That’s Building Integrated Photovoltaics, for those of you who are really off the grid.
Each PowerPark canopy is rated at 1.5 kilowatt peak, a measure of a photovoltaic system’s peak output. Even in misty, foggy Northern England, the company estimates each parking space could generate about 1,100 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. The canopies are linked to the electric grid so energy “can be generated for use in the associated buildings when cars are not being charged,” Webster said. “No electricity is wasted.”
It’s got a distinctive shape that advertises itself and just might end up the most attractive piece of engineering in a Walmart parking lot. It could even help to drive sales, as customers might linger a little longer in the store waiting for their Tesla to charge.
After a lot of hype and delivery of 250 Tesla Roadsters, the company’s Model S was unveiled today in Hawthorne, California. It is expect that production will be ramped up to 20,000 units annually by the end of the first year of production; after the $7,500 tax break, the Model S will start at just under $50,000 – $49,900 to be exact; and 440-volt charging will be available. That base price is for the 160-mile range pack; a 230-mile range pack and a 300-mile range packwill also be available. The biggest hitch: the car doesn’t go into production until Q3 of 2011.
Transportgooru thinks this is a game changer and here is the “why”:
According to Tesla’s numbers, buying a Tesla S will save you $10-$15K vs a comparably priced gas-powered sedan when gas is $4 per gallon. For an equivalent comparison, you’d have to lease a $35,000 gas-powered car.
The car fits seven people and their luggage: five adults and two children in rear-facing seats under the hatch inside, with luggage in the boot up front.
If not people, it can fit a mountain bike with its wheels still on, a surfboard and a 50-inch television at the same time.
On a 220V outlet, the car can be recharged in 4 hours.
The quickness: the standard S will get to 60 in 5.5 to 6.0 seconds. A coming sport version will get to 60 in “well under five seconds,” the company’s folks say.
These facts are what one would come to expect from a conventiona, gasoline powered automobiles that rules the roads today. As more charging stations pop-up around the country, these vehicles will make transportation seamless. The few cons that could be obviously recognized are the re-charging times and the lack of charging stations at public locations (Gas stations, parking lots, etc). With the conventional gasoline cars, refuelling is quick and doesn’t take more than 5 minutes at the gas stations, which means you can continue travelling without enduring massing delays while traveling longer distances. It can be expected that unveiling of such cars renders a wonderful opportunity for regional electric companies to enter a niche market to provide “electricity” through charging stations in the service areas along highways, just like a gas station. Or even better if these charging stations are added to existing gas stations. If charging times can be shortened with the advent of new technology (See the TransportGooru article about MIT’s breakthrough research on batteries, allowing for lightening quick charging times)
Click here to read the entire post on Autoblog’s site anddon’t forget to check out the eye popping Tesla Gallery. Here is Wall Street Journal’s interview with Tesla at the North American Int’l Auto Show (via YouTube):
