EVI Takes it to the street with commercial electric vehicles Posted on March 8th, 2010
by Aaron Turpen
LD Specs:
- Type: Commuter
- Class: 2-Seat NEV
- Top Speed: 40mph*
- Vehicle range: 55 miles
- Fuel(s): Electricity
- Battery system: Valence Lithium Phosphate
- Time to full battery recharge:
- Price:
- Availability: Now
*Limited by local law.
MD Specs:
- Type: Medium Duty Class 4, 5, 6 Truck
- Class: Commercial Truck
- Top Speed: 60mph
- Vehicle range: 60 / 80 / 115*
- Fuel(s): Electricity
- Battery system: Lithium-Iron Magnesium Phosphate
- Time to full battery recharge: 3-12 hours*
- Price:
- Availability: Now
*Depending on battery option.
The manufacturer says
EVI currently produces light duty electric trucks in Mexico for the Latin American market and plans to add a further 1,000 vehicles per year built at its all-new Stockton [CA] facility by the end of 2010.
Overview
Both the Light Duty and the Medium Duty vehicles from Electric Vehicles International (EVI) are currently available for purchase. The company recently started work opening its Stockton, California manufacturing facility for U.S. manufacture and sales.
EVI began business in 1989 in California and built its first manufacturing plant in Toluca, Mexico for Latin American sales. It currently produces about 1,000 units per year of its light duty truck for the South American market. The company is also looking to expand into the Asian markets.
At the new Stockton facility, EVI will offer three basic products to the U.S. market: the LD, the MD, and conversions of existing vehicles to all-electric or hybrid electric.
The LD
The Light Duty is a neighborhood electric commuter with a top speed of 40mph, though its road speed may be limited further depending on local laws regarding neighborhood vehicles. The car seats two and is only about 5 feet high and 8 feet long. It uses a 72V/8kW motor and 140Ahr Lithium Phosphate batteries (lead acid available on request). Despite its exemption status as an NEV, the LD has been fully crash tested.
The LD is meant for the urban commuter and commercial fleet markets. It comes in various configurations for parking enforcement, rentals, etc.
Class 6
The MD Chassis
Currently, under its medium-duty truck chassis, EVI is marketing two commercial vehicles: the MD and the WI.
The Medium Duty (MD) is a commercial Class 4-6 delivery truck design that can be configured as a box, refrigerated box, flat bed, utility, or other job-specific vehicle. The body and frame are from Freightliner Custom Chassis.
The Walk-In (WI) is a commercial Class 4 walk-in delivery box truck whose body is also from FCC. It can be customized for parcel delivery, food and beverage, utility, etc.
Both trucks share the same drive train configuration. Each comes with options for battery life of 60, 80, or 115 miles per charge, a 60mph top speed, a 0-60 of 25 seconds, and 132 or 146 horsepower (450 ft-lb torque). They use Eaton’s Ultra-shift HV6 automatic transmission and have a charge time of 3 to 12 hours, depending on battery option and charging type (110v or 220v).
Pike Research, 2.8 Million Fuel Cell Vehicles, and Climate Change Posted on March 2nd, 2010
by Aaron Turpen, EVMeme.com
(quick note – EVMeme is my latest endeavor, since I needed an outlet for humor because, well, sometimes the latest electric vehicle news is just funny)
I’m about to do something that will be considered sacrilege to some, greatly informative to others, and hilarious to a few. It’s those latter that I’m aiming for. The rest of you feel free to leave me hateful comments and fruitlessly try to change the mind of a red-headed person. I dare you.
What I’m about to do is make fun of Al Gore and climate science all in one swoop while making references to hydrogen fuel-cell (HFC) cars. I’m an equal opportunity religion basher. I’ll attach climate change, Al Gore, HFCs, or anything else. I’m notskeered.
Pike Research, which is one of those companies that makes predictions of things based on who-the-hell-knows-what in order to make guesses as to what will happen in future market events. Sort of like Al Gore. Except Pike, instead of making a hockey stick graph about planet temperatures due to evil SUV-driving rednecks, made one involving the anticipated future sales of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (of all kinds). The prediction?
2.8 million vehicles powered by fuel cells by 2020. That’s ten years from now. They’re calling it their “2020 Report.”
This report got widely distributed online. Green Car Congress picked it up (in the middle of a day of reporting a lot of non-car, climate issues too, of course), as did Auto Blog Green.
Of course, like Kevin over at HydrogenCarsNow, I really like fuel cells and think they will have a major role in our upcoming new transportation infrastructure. I cover a fair number of HFC events over at GreenBigTruck, in fact. Mostly because HFCs seem to be well-suited to commercial transportation.
Here’s my problem with Pike’s report: there are pitifully few hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles on the road right now and most automakers who have them are aiming for 2015 as their target for (low volume) mass production. Honda has something like 750 or so FCX Clarity cars on the road worldwide, Toyota has only a small percentage of that, and so forth. In fact, most of the fuel cell vehicles on the road are commercial medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Daimler AG leads the way there. In all, I’d be surprised if there are more than a couple of thousand HFC vehicles on the road right now around the globe.
So their prediction that this will increase ten-fold to 2.8 million in only a decade? Seems a little ridiculous.
Luckily, their report has a convenient blame clause: government. I love blaming government for everything just as much as the next guy (at least, the next guy who’s an American; not sure about the rest of you), but this seems a little misplaced.
But hey, that kind of escape clause works for the IPCC, Al Gore, and the rest of them, so why not Pike? After all, they appear to be using the same methodology throughout:
- Make a bunch of hokey predictions based on computer modeling of (mostly valid) data,
- Conveniently create a simple, but shocking graph to illustrate your findings,
- Publish it with a lot of scientific language that no one will read, while including your core editorializing in the “summary” report,
- Wait for the headlines to pour in, then apply for some grants for further research,
- Be sure that your predictions are far enough in the future that they will either be forgotten by the time we actually get there or leave a cop-out scapegoat in the fine print so you can blame it on them when they don’t pan out.
Easy!
ENFICA-FC Fuel Cell Inter-City Aircraft Ready for Flight Testing Posted on February 28th, 2010
The Environmentally Friendly Inter-City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells (ENFICA-FC) project, led by Turin Polytechnic University, is ready for flight-testing its fuel-cell powered, manned inter-city aircraft. (Earlier post.)
The first high speed taxiing tests were successfully carried out on the Rapid 200-FC aircraft between 10 to 18 December of last year. The next step for the European team, coordinated by Professor Giulio Romeo of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, will involve obtaining the flight permit and then conducting the first test flight.
…the objective is that of building an aeroplane that works on hydrogen, taking advantage of the fuel cell technology at present available to create a demonstrator aircraft that is able to connect cities through flights while totally eliminating the environmental impact. The work plan financed by the EC is divided into two stages: modification of a light-weight two-seater airplane with an electric engine completely supplied by hydrogen; the test flights on this are aimed at identifying the technical advantages and improvements in performance obtained with the new generation electrical energy.
At the same time, more theoretical type studies have been carried out (in collaboration with the Israel Aircraft Industry, Université Libre de Bruxelles and Evektor (CZ) partners). These will not have an immediate practical application in the initial stages because of the present technological limits, but have the aim of using zero emission propellers in the future to equip aircraft for 20-30 passengers in the regional and intercity sector.
—Professor Giulio Romeo
The current Rapid 200-FC aircraft has an entirely electric 40 kW propeller. Power is supplied to the propeller through 20 kW hydrogen fuel cells; gaseous hydrogen is stored at 350 bar onboard. The airplane also has a second source of energy that consists of a set of 20 kW lithium polymer batteries which are able to guarantee alternative or supplementary power during take off and initial climbing.
The PEM fuel cell delivers 100-110 Amps of electrical current at 200-240 V, plus air and water vapor emitted at environmental temperature.
The aircraft (the final lay-out of which was achieved with the technical assistance of the Italian Skyleader importer T&T Ultralight) has a wing span of about 10 meters. With the current systems, the airplane has autonomy of 1 hour and can reach a cruising speed of 150-180 km/h (93-112 mph), using hydrogen alone.
The entire electric and energy system underwent laboratory testing on a bench model in the first six months of 2009, in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Systems and Automation at the University of Pisa. The starting up, functioning under power and taxiing tests of the aircraft were carried out along the 1,400 meter runway at the Reggio Emilia airport over the last few weeks.
The aircraft and the electric and energy system were developed according to a design by Professor Romeo, and tuned by the ENFICA-FC team, which includes:
- Politecnico di Torino (IT) (Design of the modified aircraft and experimental test flights)
- Skyleader (CZ) (manufacturer of the aircraft)
- Intelligent Energy (UK) (designer and manufacturer of the hydrogen fuel cells)
- APL (UK) (in charge of the tanks and supply of the high pressure hydrogen)
- Mavel Elettronica (IT) (designer and manufacturer of the power electronics)
- University of Pisa (IT) (laboratory tests on the electric system)
Mavel designed the power electronics system to guarantee the supply of the 40 kW of power necessary for takeoff while meeting the requirement of limiting weight (less than 15 kg) and size so that it could be installed on the airplane.
The ENFICA-FC project was chosen by the aeronautical and space planning committee from among hundreds of other programs presented. The overall cost of the project is €4.5 million (US$6.6 million) of which €2.9 million (US$4.2 million) is financed with funds allocated by the European Commission.
The project, which began in 2006, foresees finishing positively with the final test flights in February and March; flight testing will be based at the Reggio Emilio airport.
Cal Poly Car Gets 2,752 MPG! Posted on February 26th, 2010
by Aaron Turpen, FutureCars.com
In brief: A team of students at the California Polytechnic State University (CalPoly) are finishing off their 3-wheeled vehicle for the Shell Eco-Marathon student competition.
Vehicle in the news
Make/Model: Black Widow
Manufacturer: California Polytechnic SU
The word
The Black Widow, as the vehicle is called, was created in 2005 and took first place in the 2007 Eco-Marathon and second in 2008 and 2009. It’s current incarnation will have shed several pounds, weighing in at only 96 pounds total and with a drag coefficient of only 0.12.
The Black Widow is powered by a 3 horsepower
Honda 50cc four-stroke engine, giving it a top speed of 30mph and a mileage of 2,752.3 mpg. That’s right, two thousand seven hundred and fifty-two miles per gallon.
And so …
The Shell Eco-Marathon will be held March 26-28 in downtown Houston, Texas.
Photo credits: Cal Poly Supermileage Team
NASA, LLNL, and Navistar Testing Aerodynamic Devices for Big Trucks Posted on February 26th, 2010
More than half of a big rig’s engine power is used to fight drag, or air resistance. Any driver who’s been across Wyoming in the windy season and seen their fuel efficiency drop by 3-4mpg knows this. The fastest, cheapest, and simplest way to improve fuel efficiency and increase mileage is to overcome as much of that aerodynamic drag as possible. Scientists and experts at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have teamed up with Navistar (makers of International trucks), the NASA Ames Research Center, the U.S. Air Force and others to find better ways to make big trucks more streamlined.
Several devices are being tested and have the potential to decrease drag and thus raise fuel efficiency by 12%. That would mean about $10 billion in fuel saved every year.
LLNL Director George Miller says that “This is a significant step toward reducing the United States’ dependency on fossil fuels.” With the U.S. importing over 70% of its oil, that’s definitely a significant goal. The transportation sector uses about 1/3 of the petroleum used in the U.S.
Aerodynamic drag is caused by pressure differences between one point in the vehicle and another. In a truck, the drag is usually worst at the trailer base, underbody, and the gap between tractor and trailer. A truck’s drag coefficient (measurement of vehicle drag) shows that more than 50% of the engine’s power is being used to move the truck while another 30% is used to overcome rolling resistance (friction with the road).
The LLNL has been studying truck aerodynamics for some time and has used models and computers to get to this point. Now, the lab is teamed with NASA to use the wind tunnel on a full-sized rig. Kambiz Salari, the lead LLNL scientist on the project, says that 12% is just the beginning. “We expect to increase that savings even more during the current series of wind tunnel tests. It’s time to market is incredibly quick. In just three years, we could see these devices on the road and realize the real fuel savings.”
The LLNL project is funded by the Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewal Energy Program’s Freedom CAR (Cooperative Automotive Research). The project began in the late 1990s and is responsible for many of the aerodynamic improvements already on the road today.
