Hybrid Living

Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Hybrid, Manufacturing/Plants, Geneva Motor Show, Th!nk (Think)

Recently, we told you Th!nk would introduce a larger car made by one of the top three American automakers. Green Wombat has more details on the car thanks to coffee with Th!nk’s Jan-Olaf Willums at the Cleantech Forum in San Francisco. The car is a stylish and aerodynamic five-seat, four-door sedan, made by an unnamed Fortune 100 automaker and will be released in 2011. We’ll be able to confirm this for ourselves when it is introduced at the Geneva Motor Show next week. The car will also be electric and include a range extender which I believe supports my pet theory that the unnamed automaker is GM.

You don’t have to wait until 2011 for new things from Th!nk. According to Willums, Th!nk’s two seater will be delivered to customers in March and introduced to Paris and the UK this week with production ramping up to 10,000 cars a year by the end of 2008. Th!nk hopes to have a plant in the United States by 2009, too. When asked if they were competing with Tesla, Willums said “We won’t compete with Tesla. … The Tesla will be more a BMW; we’ll be more the Volkswagen.”

[Source: Green Wombat]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, EV/Plug-in, Phoenix

According to a press release on Altairnano’s web site, Dr. Alan Gotcher has agreed to resign “as an officer of the company.” Dr. Gotcher was appointed CEO back in August 2004 and President in March 2005. No reason was given in the release but the language makes it sound like it wasn’t his decision. Dr. Terry Copeland, formerly of Millennium Cell, Inc., who was hired on as vice-president in November of last year, will step in as interim president.

For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past of couple years, Altairnano is a company which exploits nanotechnology to create disruptive products and is best known for their fast charging, umpteen-cycle-enduring lithium titanate battery.

Altairnano stock dropped sharply on this news but now appears to be rebounding nicely. Hopefully the company can put this transition behind them quickly and get on with the business of getting their product out of their doors and into our cars, Navy ships, and dragsters. Read the press release for yourself at the jump.

Related:

• AutoblogGreen Q&A: AltairNano CEO Alan Gotcher

Press release:

Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements as well as historical information. Forward-looking statements, which are included in accordance with the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, may involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the company’s actual results and performance in future periods to be materially different from any future results or performance suggested by the forward-looking statements in this release. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the risks that development of the advanced lithium ion-based batteries described herein will not be completed for technical, political, strategic or other reasons; that any products developed will not perform as expected in future testing or real-world applications; and that even if full commercialization occurs, products sales may be limited and costs associated with production may exceed revenues. In addition, other risks are identified in the company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q, as filed with the SEC. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. The company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements found herein to reflect any changes in company expectations or results or any change in events.

[Source: Altairnano via Nanowerk]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Geneva Motor Show, India

We got our first official look at Tata’s Nano in January (and a very good unofficial look in December). Tata’s Nano will make its international debut at this year’s Geneva Motor Show but when will it go on sale in Europe? According to reports, Europe may have to wait up to four years for the cars to arrive. Meanwhile, Indians will be able to get a hold of the world’s cheapest car the second half of this year.

According to Reuters, Girish Wagh, head of compact car projects at Tata Motors, told German magazine Focus, that Europe would get second-gen Nanos. “We will develop a successor model in four years time, which will meet the Euro 5 emission regulations and the crash standards in Europe,” Wagh said. European safety upgrades, which should include air bags because India does not mandate them, will add an unknown amount to the $2,500 car. Second-gen Nanos are also expected to get 78 MPG.

[Source: Inside Line]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Solar-powered laptops sure would be a great thing to have in mass production to (1) cut down on energy consumption and (2) not have to worry as much about the battery dying. One concept design which looks interesting is by Nikola Knezevic of Nikoladesign.

Kenzevic’s solar-powered laptop design is said to have "complete power autonomy." Power instead is supplied to the computer by an attached large solar panel. This panel, when not in use, can be detached. A smaller built-in battery would run the system at that point. There is also a DC in jack built into this design, just in case, we suppose, you happen to have a rainy day.

What seems to make this solar-powered design also more generally functional is proposed built-in GPS, Internet browsing, and satellite telephone access. We could certainly see a lot of uses for a portable device such as this, especially when hiking deep in the woods where you don’t find any power outlets.

[via BornRich]

Popular Science has just gotten a scoop that I’ve been waiting for ages to see. Ultracapacitors, which are completely shunned by most auto companies, have been quietly continuing development at small companies and in unviersities all over the world. The reason they’ve been so largely ignored is that they hold so much less energy than batteries. The best commercially available ultracaps have about 5% of the energy density of batteries.

Yet they also have tremendous advantages. You can charge them all the way up and all the way down without damaging them (lithium ion batteries stop functioning when charged all the way down.) They contain no chemical reagents and so are thermally stable under all conditions. And they can charge and discharge much faster than batteries.

Popular Science was recently able to visit a lab at MIT working on advanced vehicle technologies. One of these technologies is a nano-tube ultracapacitor that could potentially hold half the charge of a lithium ion battery. And while this alone doesn’t sound all that exciting, it’s a lot cooler when you realize that most batteries in hybrid cars hardly ever use more than 20% of their charge in order to extend the batteries life.

That’s right, 80% of the battery just sits there and never discharges. Ultracapacitors could discharge completely, over and over again, and never need to be replaced.

Unfortunately, after two years of work, the nano-tube capacitors still haven’t hit their theoretical capacity. And while it might not take long for them to make capacitors that have competitive energy levels, it will certainly take years, if not decades, to scale the technology up to industrial level.

Via PopMech

Filed under: Ethanol, Flex-Fuel, Saab, Geneva Motor Show

Details continue to trickle out the concept that Saab will unveiling in Geneva next week, although images are still restricted to the one shown above. It’s now being reported that the car will be called the 9-X BioPower rather than the 9-1X. As previously discussed, the 9-X will run on ethanol as is the fashion in Scandinavia these days. The engine itself will probably be a 1.4L turbo which is likely to be a preview of the engine coming to the Astra next year. Again following the pattern of other recent Saab concepts, the engine will be optimized to run on ethanol with higher boost and possibly compression to yield 200hp. The design will almost certainly drawn on the Aero X and previous 9X as well as the 9-4X that we saw in Detroit. Watch this space on Monday for all the details on the new small Saab. Until then, take a look at some images of the Aero X in the gallery below.

[Source: World Car Fans]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Emerging Technologies, Etc.

Got too much CO₂ hanging around your place? Don’t be embarrassed, it’s a common problem. Now, according to this article at Physorg.com, genome mapper Dr. Craig Venter thinks there is a solution which will not only rid you of your old gas but also give you new fuel you can run your shuttle on. Hooray!

The idea goes something like this. Create a new life form with some of those synthetic chromosomes you have lying around and some existing lifeforms. Make billions of copies. Next, feed those suckers some of your old CO₂. Now, collect the methane gas your little critters egest. Lastly, commercialize your bio-beasties and make billions of dollars whilst saving the planet. You’ll be a hero, a demi-god, maybe even potentate!

If you want to live the dream and beat the good doctor to the punch you should be forewarned that he’s already got a good head start. First of all, he’s a geneticist and knows all about this stuff. Second, he’s got his own institute.

Give up? Well, you can always rain on the good doctors parade in our comments section.

[Source: Physorg.com]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Etc., BMW, MINI, Germany

The ÖKO-TREND certificate, which states that a product is environmentally friendly, has been renewed for a set of BMW and Mini products in Germany. The BMW 118d, 318d and 520d models, as well as the MINI Cooper D have all received this award for 2008.

How is the ÖKO-TREND awarded? Companies have to satisfy a set of ecologically relevant requirements from the Institute’s advisory board. When dealing with cars, the requirements relate to fuel consumption, exhaust emissions and noise pollution. However, they also take in consideration the environmental criteria from the manufacturer as well as the production, logistics and recycling techniques.

[Source: BMW Germany]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Etc., EV/Plug-in

Many of you were critical of USA Today for publishing an article recently about a study on the relative cleanliness of plug-in vehicles. Those of you who joined the criticism have something in common with the Electric Drive Transportation Association, which has sent a letter to USA Today’s editor that calls the article misleading and
pointing out items that the reporter, James Healey, minimized in his article. EDTA president Brian Wynne also sent out an email (read it after the break) that describes his organization’s displeasure with Healey’s piece. His email is more directly critical of the article, saying it “used selected information, creating unlikely scenarios and misleading implications about grid-powered transportation.” Wynne writes that the electric drive community was unified in its criticism to the USA Today piece, a unification that will probably be tested more and more as new people try to understand what it means to have a plug on a car.

Statement from Brian Wynne, EDTA president:

In Washington, it is often pointed out that you are entitled to your own opinion, but not to your own facts. This week, we were reminded of the importance of keeping the facts of electric drive straight.

As many of our members and partners read, USA Today ran an article on potential adverse air quality effects that plug-in electric drive vehicles could have on air pollution. Unfortunately, the piece used selected information, creating unlikely scenarios and misleading implications about grid-powered transportation. The corrective response from the electric drive community was swift and unified, but the article reminds us that we have ongoing work to do to in our education efforts. The article and EDTA’s letter to the editor can be seen here.

Consumers and policy makers are seeking thoughtful analyses of electric drive options. As an industry, we need to ensure that they get them.

Electric drive is integral to addressing the security and environmental challenges that we face. To achieve electric drive’s benefits, there are challenges that must be met. EDTA is working with its members and other groups to make sure that both the benefits and challenges of this evolving technology are well understood.

As we head into an election season, with the prospect of $4 a gallon gas, Congress and the public will be looking for answers about transportation alternatives. EDTA, as the unified voice of the diverse electric drive industry, will be working to ensure that they know the electric drive answers.

This year, while continuing our advocacy in Congress, we are expanding our outreach to new audiences. This spring, we will be running an intensive Washington media campaign to educate the public. We are also increasing our visibility at industry and policy events. Through this comprehensive effort, EDTA will make sure that the public and policy makers have the facts they need about electric drive.

Regards,

Brian P. Wynne
President

[Source: EDTA]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.

Filed under: Biodiesel, Diesel, On Two Wheels

Just the other day we reminded you of a diesel motorcycle currently being built for military purposes, and before that we shared information on the Neander Motors’ machine with its dual counter-rotating crankshafts. These products prove that there is significant interest in diesel motorcycles, a fact not lost on the Gray Eagles, an “informal collection of retired engineers and executives from Harley-Davidson and Outboard Marine.” These engineers are working on converting the V-Twin engine powering numerous Harley-Davidson motorcycles to run on diesel and/or biodiesel fuel. Along they way, they’ve added fuel injection and a turbocharger for good measure. If produced, the Harley-diesel could do 100 miles per hour and return 80 miles per gallon. Potential customers for this proposed vehicle include Harley-Davidson themselves as well as the military … oh yeah, and this writer.

[Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Motive and Autoblog]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD Step behind the curtain at Ford Motor. Experience the documentary first-hand.