Mudslinger's Corner

AEVA Canberra – National Electric Vehicle Festival – 4 October 2009

National Electric Vehicle Festival
Sunday 4 October, 2009. 9am – 4pm

The Australian Electric Vehicle Association Inc. (AEVA) is proud to present the inaugural National Electric Vehicle Festival.

It will be held in the nation’s capital to herald the new age of clean, green, ELECTRIC motoring. Come and see the future of motoring.

http://www.canberraev.org/festival

LiveLeak.com – Vehicle Of The Future? Aptera

It would be all kinds or awesome if this Aptera car makes it to the Australian market!

AUSTRALIA’S light vehicle fleet will have entirely converted from petrol to electric power in 20 years, says Evan Thornley, who quit the Brumby Government last December to run the Australian operation of battery systems company Better Place.

Mr Thornley’s prediction came as Better Place today launched in Yokohama, Japan a world-first automated battery-switch station, a breakthrough in making plug-in electric cars a practical reality, he says.

“What it means for the world is there is now a viable technology for mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs),” Mr Thornley told The Australian.

Automated switching stations, where charged batteries can be swapped for flattened ones in less time than it takes to fill a conventional petrol tanks, helps solve the problem of limited travel range which until now has hampered the adoption of EVs.

Better Place plans to roll-out an Australian network of EV charging points and battery stations from 2012, following the system’s launch in Israel in 2011 and then in Denmark.

The range of current EV batteries is about 160km and Mr Thornley says most electric drivers will mostly use charging-points or home power, but battery-swapping makes distance driving a reality.
“People will quickly realise electric vehicles are a good alternative when you can recharge them anywhere, but they’re a much better alternative if you can get a new battery in three minutes or less and keep driving.”

The Yokohama battery station was unveiled today as part of a Japanese Government project to test electric cars operating under normal city conditions.

Mr Thornley, a multi-millionaire internet entrepreneur was elected to the Victorian Parliament in 2006 and angered many Labor colleagues when he quit the government and his seat on the eve of being offered a ministry.

The Victorian Opposition attacked him moving to a company that was negotiating with the Brumby Government to bring its project to Victoria.

Denying he was looking for a way out of politics, Mr Thornley said he first became aware of what Better Place was doing early in 2008, through venture capital acquaintances in California.

He said he became increasingly attracted because the company was offering a solution in one system to issues that had concerned him for 25 years – hydrocarbon pollution, energy security and reliability, and Australia’s excessive reliance on imported oil.

Then he was approached in September by Better Place’s founder Shai Agassi with the offer to head Better Place Australia.

“I was very happy doing what I was doing, I was honoured to be part of what I thought was the best government in Victoria’s history, I hope I was making a contribution.

“I had no plans of doing anything else, when suddenly this loomed very, very large and I was put in a position where I had to make a decision between two very exciting alternatives.”

ARTICLE FROM:
‘Cars all electric in 20 years’: Evan Thornley | The Australian

Ludihana, May 13: A group of engineering students in Ludhiana has developed an eco-friendly motorbike which runs on air-pressure and doesn’t require fuel.The 100cc bike equipped with two compressed air cylinders, gives a mileage of 11 miles per hour, which the students have plans to increase with some changes in near future.

They claim that it is the world’s first 100cc motorcycle powered by air and can help eliminate pollution to a great extent.

“There are bikes that run on batteries, but a lot of time is spent in charging them. In an air bike, you just need to fill air through a compressor. If we develop its air tank and reprocess the exhaust air, the capacity of this air bike can be increased, ” said Akashdeep Singh, one of the innovative students.

“The main advantage is that it is pollution-free as its exhaust is cold air. The Defence personnel can also use the bike, as thermal radiation cameras cannot detect it. Also, the engine of this bike can work underwater and breathes air from its storage tank, which in turn sucks it from the atmosphere,” said Balbir Singh, another student.

Having created the environment-friendly bike, the college students opine that it might not look very hi-tech and sophisticated for now, but it is a step in the right direction for a greener Earth.

“The idea of an air bike was conceived as our energy resources are being depleted day-by-day and pollution level is rising. Keeping all this in mind we have designed a 100cc bike which runs on air pressure technique,” said Jagraj Singh Kaul, Head of the Department, Auto Engineering Department.

Established in 1953, Guru Nanak Dev Polytechnic College (GNDPC) is one of the oldest engineering institutions in north India and is a pioneer in technical education.

An ISO-certified institution, the GNDPC is committed to improve technical excellence to achieve global standards.

The polytechnic has set up its own Electrical and Electronics Laboratories Library and Computer Center under World Bank assisted projects.

And the air-powered bike is an innovation that makes the college proud.

In future, Motor companies can perfect this technology and produce air-powered vehicles. By Karan Kapoor

ARTICLE FROM:
Now, a motorbike, which runs on air-pressure!

ARTICLE FROM:
smart fortwo ed To Hit Australian Showrooms “Within Next Five Years” | The Motor Report Auto News Blog

What is it?
The Australian Electric Vehicle Association Inc. (AEVA) is proud to present their inaugural National Electric Vehicle Festival in the nation’s capital, to celebrate the founding of their Canberra Branch and to welcome in the first to the production EV’s to hit our shores.
 
When is it?
Sunday 4th October, 2009: 9am – 4pm

Where is it?
Old Parliament House Lawns

http://openday.aeva.asn.au/

National Electric Vehicle Festival 2009, Canberra

YouTube – Worlds fastest street legal ELECTRIC CAR

Progressive Automotive X-Prize competitors roundup – Engadget

With about three weeks left to go, the Progressive Automotive X-Prize has already got 25 submissions (20 names have been publicly released) with creators ranging from college students to large auto makers already in the game. Here’s the deal with the contest: the cars must be production-capable and fall in with federal safety guidelines, and it’s got to be possible to produce and sell 10,000 of them annually, with a working business plan in place for this to happen by 2014. The car must deliver at least 100 MPGs, and CO2 emissions can’t exceed 200 grams per kilometer. The prize for the competition is ten million dollars. We’ve seen some of these in the past — Aptera’s 2e, MDI’s AirCar, and the Tata Nano are all on offer — but there are a few new guys, too. Some of the more interesting entries are the totally rad looking diesel Avion which has gotten up to 103.7 miles per gallon, Kinetix Motors’ diesel-electric hybrid E4 Sports Hatch, which should cost less than $25,000 with a top speed of 95 miles per hour. The company also claims the sporty ride goes from zero to sixty miles in 6.1 seconds. Finally, there’s Physics Lab of Lake Havasu Green Giant, an electric truck that gets 50 miles per gallon on its battery, with plans to bump that figure to 100 miles per gallon using other sources of energy. Check out the gallery of other prospects, and hit the read link for the full, delicious list.

Solar cars still a way off – CNN.com

 (CNN) — Toyota’s third-generation Prius, due at dealerships this spring, will have an optional solar panel on its roof. The panel will power a ventilation system that can cool the car without help from the engine, Toyota says.

But it’s a long way from the 2010 Prius to a solar-powered car, experts told CNN. Most agree that there just isn’t enough space on a production car to get full power from solar panels.

“Being able to power a car entirely with solar is a pretty far-reaching goal,” said Tony Markel, a senior engineer at the federal government’s National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colorado.

In the new Prius, the solar panel will provide energy for a ventilation fan that will help cool the parked car on sunny, hot days. The driver can start the fan remotely before stepping into the car. Once the car is started, the air conditioning won’t need as much energy from a battery to do the rest of the cooling.

“The best thing about using solar is that regardless of what you end up using it for, you’re trying to use it to displace gasoline,” added Markel.

The question is, how much gasoline can solar power offset? Markel said his lab has modified a Prius to use electricity from the grid for its main batteries and a solar panel for the auxiliary systems. He believes the car gets an additional 5 miles of electric range from the panel.
Don’t Miss

According to recent articles in Japan’s Nikkei newspaper, Toyota has bigger plans for harnessing power from the sun. Nikkei reports that Toyota hopes to develop a vehicle powered entirely by solar panels. The project will take years, the paper reported.

When contacted by CNN, however, a Toyota spokeswoman denied the existence of the project.

“At this time there are no plans that we know of to produce a concept or production version of a solar-powered car,” said Amy K. Taylor, a communications administrator in Toyota’s Environmental, Safety & Quality division.

Motorists don’t have to wait for a 2010 Prius to drive a solar-enhanced car, however. Greg Johanson, president of Solar Electric Vehicles in Westlake Village, California, said his company makes a roof-mounted panel for a standard Prius that enables the car to travel up to 15 additional miles a day.

The system costs $3,500, and it takes about a week to make one, Johanson said. Billy Bautista, a project coordinator at the company, said Solar Electric Vehicles gets so many requests for the system that there is a backlog of several months.

The company’s Web site says motorists can install the panels themselves, although it recommends finding a “qualified technician.”

The system delivers about 165 watts of power per hour to an added battery, which helps powers the electric motor, Johanson said.

But others said it would take a lot more power than that to replace an internal combustion engine.

Eric Leonhardt, director of the Vehicle Research Institute at Western Washington University, said that even if solar cells worked far better than they do today, they wouldn’t generate enough power for driving substantial distances. The best cells operate at about 33 percent efficiency, but the ones used on vehicles are only about 18 percent efficient, he said.

Leonhardt said it would be more practical to use solar power to help charge a car’s battery and use the more efficient panels mounted on a roof or over a parking area to supply the rest of the electricity needed to drive the engine.

“Solar panels really need a lot of area,” he said.

Leonhardt thinks Toyota’s new Prius is a good first step toward using renewable energy. Some cars get hotter than 150 degrees inside when parked in the sun, so reducing the temperature could mean Toyota could use a smaller AC unit, he added.

Johanson of Solar Electric Vehicles said he’d like to see Toyota bring the weight of a Prius down from 3,000 pounds to 2,000. He also hopes for a small gasoline engine and a larger electric motor. That will probably come in the future, when Toyota unveils a plug-in engine.

In the meantime, Solar Electric Vehicles sells its version of a plug-in Prius, with a solar panel installed, for $25,000, Bautista said.

Toyota is the largest automaker to incorporate solar power into a mass-produced car. But its solar panel is not the first for a car company. Audi uses one on its upscale A8 model, and Mazda tried one on its 929 in the 1990s.

In addition, a French motor company, Venturi, has produced an electric-solar hybrid. The Eclectic model costs $30,000, looks like a souped-up golf cart and uses roof-mounted solar panels to help power an electric engine. It has a range of about 30 miles and has a top speed of about 30 mph.

domain-b.com : India may see the Tata – MDI Air Car this year

13 January 2009      
    
Forget hybrid vehicles, forget electric cars. How can any of them match up to a car that runs on next to nothing? Ladies and gentleman, presenting the Air Car, made by French company MDI in collaboration with India’s Tata Motors. Running on compressed air, the revolutionary vehicle may be introduced in India before the end of this year.

Although the car consumes no fuel, yet there is a cost associated with filling its tanks with compressed air. However, considering the mileage that the vehicle delivers, the running costs are extremely low.

Furthermore, with no combustion there is no emission – an extremely important trait in the currently pollution-conscious world.

Although the Air Car doesn’t require traditional fuel options like petrol, diesel, or gas and is driven primarily by compressed air. However, the company has also developed an alternative means to power the car using a combination of air and petrol, diesel or ethanol, just like a hybrid.

MDI has officially said that they ”will release in France the first cars for the Air France company before June 2009. The cars will be available for the public at the end of 2009.”

Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India’s third biggest car manufacturer had signed a licensing agreement with MDI for manufacturing the car in India. The agreement between the two envisages development and refinement of the technology. (See: And now, a car that runs on air from the Tata stable)

“Tata Motors has not finalised any timeframe for deployment of the technology of engines powered by compressed air. Tata Motors is licensed to deploy the technology only in India. As and when we have any details of deployment in India, we will share them with you,” MDI added.

MDI has developed several models of the Air Car designed to accommodate two to six passengers.

A typical three-seater car, which had been unveiled earlier, is about 2.65 metres in length (smaller than the Tata Nano’s 3.1 metres) and 1.62 metres wide (wider than Nano).

The price of the car will be unveiled at the launch, but, according to the company’s website, the  price may range from Rs2.33 lakh to Rs8.69 lakh.

YouTube – The X PRIZE Vision 2008

A major investment in ethanol fuel production in Australia and a range of greener vehicles underpin Holden’s bid for a greater share of the eco-friendly motoring market from early next year.

Managing director Mark Reuss says Holden is in talks with American firm Coskata to establish Australia’s first plant to produce cellulosic ethanol, made from non-edible plant material, for use in motor fuels.

By 2010, Holden will also produce locally-built cars that can run on E85 fuel – fuel made up of 85 per cent ethanol – in an effort to encourage widespread use of ethanol-rich fuel in Australia.

E10 fuel – with 10 per cent ethanol – is widely available in Australia and is compatible with a range of modern vehicles.

The fuel would be cheaper, largely renewable and would reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Mr Reuss said.

Little start-up investment would be needed to sell commercially, he said.

“We have always said we would take a leadership position on ethanol and we’re going to provide the vehicles to do that,” he told a dinner in Melbourne on Thursday.

“We already have Saab bio-powered E85 vehicles on the market but there is obviously greater market pressure required to stimulate infrastructure, fuel production and policy in Australia.”

Holden will modify fuel systems and recalibrate engines in its cars to run on E85 fuel and will develop cars powered by other alternative fuels, Mr Reuss said.

Australia could lead the world in researching and developing vehicles powered by a range of alternative fuels, Mr Reuss said.

“It (ethanol) is not the only answer but things like LPG, ethanol, maybe CNG (compressed natural gas) here, with the resources that Australia has, I think this country could really lead that,” he said.

From early next year, Holden will also introduce a new range of green-friendly cars, known as EcoLine.

The range, announced last month, would eventually include cars that run on diesel, LPG or renewable energy, or have variable cylinder systems that shut down cylinders to save fuel while a car is cruising.

The company will import the Chevrolet Volt, a plug-in rechargeable hybrid electric car, to Australia by 2012.

Consumer demands and the threat of climate change was “driving a fundamental and permanent shift” in the cars manufacturers produced, Mr Reuss said.

“The time to act is now and that’s why I see 2009 as a year of transformation for Holden. Truly this is the reckoning of General Motors,” he said.

© 2008 AAP

Holden embraces alternative fuels – Breaking News – National – Breaking News