The car manufacturing companies in the U.S. are coming out with hybrids and not all electric cars.

1. Do they feel that nobody would buy an all electric car?                                                                                                                  2. Do they think the hybrid a safe way to   go?                                                                                                                 3. Is this a good way to make the transition from IC engines to electric by combining the two systems?

It would seem to me that if the car manufactures could save a lot of money by eliminating the gas/diesel engines and pass a portion of the savings on to the consumer and sell the car for less.                                                    Granted, the car companies have a large investment in tooling of the IC engine, transmission, cooling system, exhaust system, pollution controll system, etc.  But, couldn’t they recover a large amount by converting their tooling to the building of batteries  and electric motors? Or, is it that the oil companies, because of environmental pressure, will allow the hybrid to be built.

Remember, hybrids use oil products and the oil companies can just raise the prices at the pump and recover the same amount of big profits by selling less.

The small manufacturing companies, that are building all electric vehicles, are of very little threat to the oil companies because, these small organizations do not have the wherewithal to make cars in numbers so the price for these small amount of cars is more than the average person can afford.

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Toyota has manufactured four new electric powered shuttle cars. They are going to be used as public transport in the Portland area after the new implantation of electric car recharging and hybrid filling stations in the area. These public transport electric vehicles are going to be the first in a line of green transportation systems that are going to be available for public use.

The cars are based around the already available RAV4 model, which is a hybrid. The Portland state University is planning a travel scheme, using these shuttle cars to transport students and/or staff through downtown and suburban areas.

Toyota has also revealed plans to showcase new hybrids that run on compressed natural gas and electricity, instead of standard unleaded gas and electric. The cars will be shown off at the Los Angeles Auto Show in front of thousands of potential buyers.

GridPoint has just invested around $120 million in accumulated funds to purchase the V2Green electric car charging facilities and software. The company, GridPoint, specialises in the distribution of software that helps to power multiple generating units, in this case, electric car charging outlets. The software is used to control the distribution of electricity from port to car, and eliminates any risk to the car.

The reason for this purchase was to eliminate electricity grid ‘taxing’, which means that in peak times the number of electric cars that are plugged in to recharge would create a demand for too much electricity, so eventually more electric power plants would need to be built. The V2Green software is designed to assist the already present power grid to cope with all this extra energy that is needed.

It is thought that this kind of high demand on the power grid is not going to become much of an issue until late 2010 or early 2011, which is when most of the new electric cars go into wide distribution. The hype over the poor condition of the O-zone layer and other environmental concerns is thought to push electric car sales to an all time high, making the V2Green a necessity, mainly in the U.S. and China.

The current electric and hybrid car batteries, whilst they are fit for purpose, they do not last as long as they should. It is thought that a Lithium-Ion Battery would last twice as long. No figures have been released as of yet, but plans are being pursued to manufacture electronic chips that may serve to help these new batteries work for longer.

Linear’s LTC6802 is it’s name, and it will be able to accurately monitor the power output of up to 12 individual Lithium-Ion battery cells when installed in electric and hybrid cars. The production of the chips is going to be expensive, however work has already commenced, with prototypes nearing completion.

The system has already been purchased by Toyota, to use with it’s third generation hybrid cars which are going to run on Lithium-Ion batteries. More and more companies are placing bids each week, but no other information has been released as of yet. Lithium-Ion batteries are prone to ‘catastrophic failure’, as stated by the company that produces these new technologies. The new chips will eliminate over charging and over discharging damage, making the driving safer and keeping the car in good ‘health’ for longer.

It is widely thought that a stereotypical electric or hybrid car owner is one of two kinds of people. The first is an elderly male who is either too old, or afraid to drive too fast and thinks that they will be safer in a car that runs on little or no gas. The second is a rich man or woman who feels high and mighty and almost better than everyone else in the knowledge that they are doing their bit for the environment, with little effort.

This need not be the case. Electric cars are ideal for almost anyone. Given a few more years, manufacturers could even have produced 4×4s run on batteries and then everybody will be happy. The EV world has come a long way since it’s begginning, costs are coming down and vehicles are easy to get hold of. With the environmental concieousness rising, everyone is looking for some way to help keep the world ‘ticking’ for a few more years, and driving a battery powered car is a good way to start.

The prices of electric cars are still very high, but soon they will start falling. Think about an electric vehicle when you decide to upgrade or replace your current car. By 2010, there will be so many choices available that everybody will be spoilt for choice.

Chrysler, whilst the company has recently revealed it’s electric car production plans, as previously stated in one of my other posts, the plans have been pushed forward! It is apparent that Chrysler is now going to exhibit a line of prototype electric cars as soon as next week.

The company is focusing more on their business strategies in their show to dealers of Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler. The exhibition will take place via videoconference across over 100 movie theaters all around the U.S.A. This will pull Chrysler to the front in the run up to 2010, when most of the new electric cars are released from all of the biggest companies, and some of the older ‘pioneers’ of the electric car.

This new line of electric cars has been hailed as the new generation of electric cars. As they are just some more plug-in hybrids, they are not the most environmentally friendly cars, although they are very technologically advanced…watch this space!!!

Since it’s release, the Zap Xebra has gone from strength to strength. It sold well soon after it’s early release and it has been revealed that the Zap Xebra has set a new world sales record this August. The car has seen an increasing demand, leading to higher volumes of production. It does seem that the electric car market is on the rise.

Whilst bigger brands like Toyota have released hybrids, the Zap fully electric Xebra was one of the pioneering brands that initially started the ‘green’ car movement. Zap is now seeing the highest sales figures in the industry, overtaking most, if not all of the closely related Japanese cars. The total sales increase in August amounts to nearly 88% of all electric cars sold in that month, and most of the cars sold all year. This truly is good news for ZAP!

Everyone is hearing the buzz around the new Chevrolet Volt. Countless news articles have been written about it, it is mentioned in dozens of blogs etc, but how good is it? Nobody seems to want to make any comments on how good the fuel economy is.

Stepping back slightly, for those who don’t know, the Chevrolet Volt is the newest offering from the motoring industry giants, GM. The Volt is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery combined with an internal combustion engine. Whilst the car is a plug-in hybrid, the combustion engine does still charge the battery.

It is always good news when a motor company embarks on an electric venture, but companies cannot seem to move out of the hybrid shadow. Each year companies reveal plans for new hybrids. Hybrids, hybrids hybrids, when are we going to hear the news of a fully electric powered Volt that can reach speeds of up to 150mph and only needs recharging every 100 miles. Well, for the time being, the technology has not yet been adapted.

Coming back to the Volt, set to arrive in 2010, the combustion engine does have a reasonable fuel economy, although the Toyota alternative, which has been available for some time now, has a better fuel economy. It just seems like GM are having some troubles trying to move away from their usual muscle cars, so they need a more powerful engine, with a less than amazing fuel economy rating.

 Daimler AG, the German car manufacturers and development section has released news that they have already begun creating lithium powered cars with the car giants Mercedes. This news was welcomed by German natives as well as the industry on a more international scale. The news was shortly followed by some even better news.

The company has joined up with it’s research and development section ‘RWE AG’ in the hope of developing and planting over five hundred electric car recharging points across Berlin. This means that anybody that owns a fully electric car could potentially recharge their car anywhere. The access points are going to be planted at private housing areas, public car parks, alongside gas stations and around heavy tourist areas.

This new initiative means that Berlin is going to be the first major city to follow in the footsteps of Tokyo, Japan, whos government has already kick-started plans to have the city filled with electric car charging ports by late 2009. In Berlin, the work is likely to be completely finished, and all ports will be fully operational by the year 2010, if everything goes to plan.

The financial side of things is looking good also, as the German government has stated that they will try to help in any way they can.

Have you ever wondered what it means when you hear the term HV, EV, PEV, Etc.? Well here are some definitions:

Hybrid: A mechanism that has two or more operating fuel sources.

1. Hybrid vehicle (HV): an electric vehicle (EV) that powers the machine using a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) that recharges the on board batteries. When they become low, it generally runs on fossil fuels, mainly gas or diesel.

2. Hybrid internal combustion ingine (HVICE): This is a (ICE) that is connected to a generator to recharge the batteries that runs the vehicle.(No plug in to recharge batteries).

3. A plug in electric vehicle (PEV): The recharges the batteries by electric current while parked and not in use.  It runs on battery power, but when the batteries are depleted then the conventional (IC) takes over.

4. Gas optional hybrids (GO-HEV): These ICE run on alternative fuels like hydrogen. They are slated for production in the near future and are low polluters.

5. Gas optional plug in hybrids (GO-PHEV): These promise to be the most efficient and less polluting, but are currently not being produced. Notable, a GO-PEV, in the event of a power  outage, can provide emergency power to your home.

Due to a scarcity of recharging stations, today’s pure PEV’s, all  electric vehicles, have a limited range. If a pure PEV’s electric charge becomes depleted while in the country side , you can’t just find a bush with current berries and plug it in.

Hybrids are nothing new. Beginning in the late 1930s, many rail road train engines were equipped with diesel engines powering generators that in turn powered the electric motors driving the wheels. Over the years they have become more efficient.

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