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News Archive
Monday, May 24, 2004
Revenge of the Killer Gas Prices
News from Montgomery County Sentinel (Maryland):
[...] GM is running as hard as it can from the electric vehicles it has already designed and produced. The cars recharged for just pennies and were available on lease.
This change in direction at GM followed backpedaling by California on zero emissions standards.
"Despite the popularity of the GM EV-1 and [despite long ] waiting lists for the high-tech vehicle, General Motors terminated their customer's leases and sent the cars to the jaws of a crusher," says the Electric Vehicle Association of Greater Washington D.C. on their web page.
In response to the lack of domestic producers, some conscientious consumers are going out and buying electric Toyotas .
But John Kocher of Silver Spring, a computer specialist at the National Institutes of Health, went out and bought himself a 1985 Pontiac Fiero that had been already converted to run off batteries in 1991. After conversion, the car spent most of its time in a dealer showroom.
[...]
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Monday, May 17, 2004
State to test mileage tax
News from Corvallis Gazette Times:
Oregon plans to run a pilot program next year to test a vehicle mileage tax that may eventually replace the state fuel tax for motor vehicles.
[...]
There's growing concern, Whitty said, that increases in the fuel efficiency of vehicles will cut into the state's gas tax receipts, leaving it short of money to maintain or expand the road system.
Projections are that hybrid engines, running partly on gas and partly on electricity, will be options in 25 vehicle models by 2007. And by 2013, officials expect a drastic decline in gas tax receipts.
[...]
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Monday, May 17, 2004
Electric Car Dealership Opens In Seattle
News from KIRO-TV, Seattle, WA:
One consequence of record-high gasoline prices is increased interest in cars that run on alternative fuels. Just in time to answer the demand, there's a new electric car dealership in Seattle.
With gas prices going ever higher, more people are searching for alternatives, including cars that you plug in.
What surprises you is what you don't hear: No gas-powered engine noise in the electric car we drove, one of the first to be sold in Seattle.
The car is one of several models of N.E.V.'s -- neighborhood electric vehicles, which the legislature legalized for Washington streets last year.
Tuesday, the first dealership opened: MC Electric Vehicles, on Dearborn.
Read the full article...
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Vehicle of the Week: World's Fastest Electric Car
News from Forbes:
AC Propulsion's tzero roadster is a reason to not give up on the electric vehicle. The tzero does 0 to 60 mph in 3.6 seconds, according to the company, and it does it on only 200 horsepower because of its light weight and torque.
The San Dimas, Calif.-based company says the tzero (pronounced "tee-zero," not "chair-o") has compared favorably in acceleration tests to Corvettes, Porsche 911s--and even a Ferrari F355, which it claims to have "out-accelerated...by eight car lengths" in one-eighth-mile drag races. If for nothing else, the tzero's $220,000 sticker price puts it in exotic-car territory.
The low weight helps make the tzero so quick, but its torque--the turning force that pulls it off the line--is just as important, if not more. Conventional internal combustion engines need to rev to a certain rate before reaching their peak torque, but the tzero's torque peaks instantly, with 183 ft-lbs. available from 0 to 5,000 rpm.
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Friday, May 07, 2004
The Juice? Little car could generate jobs for city
News from Winston Salem Journal - Winston-Salem, NC, USA:
by Mark Winkea
Let's make this clear: It is not a golf cart on steroids.
But it could be called a laptop on wheels.
EcoVehicle Enterprises Inc., a fledgling company with a strong local connection, hopes to build two more prototypes, secure orders, find the venture capital and decide on a place to manufacture its low-speed electric car.
If those dreams come to fruition - dreams that envision a company providing at least 250 jobs - the city of Salisbury has promised to buy the first one off the line.
[...]
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Monday, May 03, 2004
Cranking Out Solutions
News from Fort Wayne Journal Gazette - Fort Wayne, IN, USA:
By Urvaksh Karkaria
Fort Wayne-based Dura-Trac Motors has developed an electric motor geared toward the automobile market – one that promises to pack more power than similar products on the market.
Combining the transmission system into the electric motor gives the motor a wider speed range, making it more efficient and about 20 percent more powerful than similar products, said Larry Zepp, Dura-Trac’s vice president of engineering.
The wider speed range extends the distance an electric vehicle can be driven on a single battery charge – an estimated 10 percent to 15 percent increase in mileage for a typical vehicle.
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Saturday, May 01, 2004
Electric cars boost services
News from Hopkinton Town Crier - Framingham, MA, USA:
by Helen Prunty Krispien:
In a world still punctuated by gas-guzzling vehicles, the new electric go-carts recently given to the DPW, Police, School and Fire Departments are welcomed gifts.
On a rainy, and dreary Monday morning the Hopkinton Fire Department's only go-cart sat plugged into an electric ceiling socket in the huge firehouse garage. With a golf-cart like appearance this environmentally friendly vehicle has already been put into action says Lt. Ken Clark.
Clark, a 4th generation firefighter whose career has spanned more than 33 years with the Hopkinton Department, is thrilled with their sleek new vehicle. "We call it the 'SEV' or Special Events Vehicle. It's been adapted to have its own silver tool box, carrying chest and stretcher," said Clark. "One of the guys is good with electrical things and put in the siren and flashing red light. It's very simple to drive: just release the brake and go."
Since the vehicle is good for getting into target spots, the "SEV" took its maiden ride at this year's Boston Marathon. "A civilian went down at the starting line, after the women left, and just before the men started," said Clark. "It was on the north side of the street which is difficult to access. We pulled right up to the start line and then the ambulance came."
[...]
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