Electric cars need steel bodies

The next generation of electric cars will need specifically designed steel bodies to exploit their green potential, according to the world’s biggest steel makers.

A new research project, the Future Steel Vehicle (FSV), is testing redesigned structural parts in an electric car’s bodywork, including the sills, front crash structure, roof and battery carrier, to cut weight and save energy.

Engineers are also weighing up a variety of steels to balance their strength in an EV body against the energy used in its manufacture. This will reduce the whole-life energy costs of an EV.

Previous steel industry projects have advanced the design of lightweight steel car bodies, doors and suspensions.

Electric cars need steel bodies

The next generation of electric cars will need specifically designed steel bodies to exploit their green potential, according to the world’s biggest steel makers.

A new research project, the Future Steel Vehicle (FSV), is testing redesigned structural parts in an electric car’s bodywork, including the sills, front crash structure, roof and battery carrier, to cut weight and save energy.

Engineers are also weighing up a variety of steels to balance their strength in an EV body against the energy used in its manufacture. This will reduce the whole-life energy costs of an EV.

Previous steel industry projects have advanced the design of lightweight steel car bodies, doors and suspensions.

City Unveils Electric Vehicles

The City of Vancouver today unveiled two environmentally friendly additions to its fleet of vehicles.

The “Think City” and the “Ranger EV” are fully electric, zero emission vehicles that are being leased from the Ford Motor Company. It’s part of a two-year trial to see how electric vehicles can be integrated into the City’s existing, conventionally-powered fleet.

The “Think City” is a dramatically designed two-seater that uses nickel cadmium batteries for power, and can travel up to 60 km per charge, at speeds up to 90 km/h. It’s built of recyclable plastics and materials.

The “Ranger EV” looks like, and is built much like, a conventional pickup truck, except that it’s powered by lead acid batteries. It can travel up to 70km on a single charge, with a top speed of over 100 km/h (exact speed and range vary depending on the road conditions and the remaining battery charge).

Electric Car : SUV Truck Phoenix Motor Cars

Did you know that a fully electric SUV is about to come out. The launch of the new vehicles just got delayed until 2008 because of the certification process.

The company, Phoenix Motorcars, already has 500 on order from clients. Pacific Gas and Electric is one customer and so are many government municipalities. These organizations buy large fleets of cars and often don’t go long distances. Thus, the 100 mile range is not a problem with compared to regular consumers.



Electric Car : SUV Truck Phoenix Motor Cars





Electric Car : SUV Truck Phoenix Motor Cars





Electric Car : SUV Truck Phoenix Motor Cars





Electric Car : SUV Truck Phoenix Motor Cars

Universal Electric Vehicle's Spyder

We first spied the Spyder from Universal Electric Vehicle last December at the sports car's Santa Monica unveiling. UEV just emailed AutoblogGreen an updated spec sheet and some new pictures of the car under sunny skies and who are we to sit on something like this.

Obvio 828e

Even though it starts off looking like an April Fool's Day parody, Good Morning America had a show last week called The Future Now. This bit featured the ZAP Obvio 828 as part of a discussion on alternative fuels, networked cars and hydrogen fuel cells. Well, discussion is perhaps a bit too generous a word. The hosts, one from GMA and the other from Popular Science, briefly touched on these technologies for the early a.m. audience.

Can Electric Cars Deliver As Promised?

By the sound of it, electric cars are poised to reshape the automotive industry in a way not seen since, well, the internal combustion engine was introduced. 2010 is shaping up to be an important year for electric cars as several new models are slated to hit the market. That's good news for environmentally conscious consumers, but do electric cars deserve our attention more than highly fuel efficient gas or diesel models?

Certainly, electric cars offer a huge appeal for the simple reason that visits to the gas pump are no longer part of the equation. Instead of fueling up, electric car users will plug it in at home, at work or while on the road. It's all about tapping the power grid in ways not seen before.

I've been covering electric cars on my flagship The Auto Writer blog for several years, but not too many people dig deep when investigating vehicle electrification. I'm not about to tell you to buy one product or stay away from another one, but what I will say is that there are some things to consider before deciding in favor of an electric model versus something else:

Vehicle Cost - Surprise, surprise! Electric cars are pricey as we learned when the then $98,00--now $109,000 on up--Tesla Roadster hit the market in 2008. Sure, Tesla is an exotic car, but most electric vehicles are priced north of $40,000. The good news is that some models carry a $7500 federal rebate with individual states adding their rebates or tax abatement into the mix.

Vehicle Availability - When the first big wave of electric vehicles rolls out, the Nissan Leaf, Ford Transit Connect EV, Chevy Volt and other models will be available in limited numbers. That's because manufacturers still aren't sure if customers will embrace the technology. Some models will be scarce until production is ramped up which means you may have to wait six months, perhaps a year before buying one.

Weather Extremes - Just how durable are electric cars when facing weather extremes? Manufacturers are trying to find that out by putting their vehicles through various tests, but a Minnesota winter or Arizona heat may be hard to replicate. Look for these cars to carry generous warranties just in case the unthinkable happens...whatever that might be!

Unseen Pollution - Electric vehicles emit no carbon pollution, right? Well, while on the road they don't. However, when powering up electric vehicles use electricity derived from coal burning plants. And, in the manufacturing process they consume precious resources just like any other car. Overall, their impact on the environment may be lower than a clean burning diesel or highly efficient gas engine, but if you're trying to "save the earth" with an electric vehicle you may be disappointed.

There are other factors such as registration costs, insurance, maintenance and repairs and depreciation which also must be factored in. Likely, electric vehicles will improve over time and prices will drop, making power grid enabled vehicles hot sellers down the road.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Keegan

Japan's Electric Cars 2010

Electric cars that zip by have always been more sci-fi than reality, thanks to pop culture. But in fact, the earliest cars were running on electricity long before the energy and automobile industry decided to convert Detroit into a gas guzzling machine based on the internal combustion engine. And precisely because of that, electric cars are making a comeback. With fuel prices soaring, and fossil fuel itself adding ever more to greenhouses gases that cause global warming, the world is betting on solutions such as alternative clean fuels, and zero or low carbon emitting cars powered by electricity.

As Detroit is to the American automobile industry, Japan is fast becoming to the world. And their fleet of hybrid cars, those that use an alternative clean energy only or in combination with gas is helping Japan's position as a global leader in the auto industry big time. Last summer, while Toyota took the lead from Ford and became the second most selling brand of automobiles in America just after GM, Honda comfortably outsold DaimlerChrysler.

Toyota and Honda, both Japanese companies, are also the only mass producers of hybrid vehicles and enjoy steady success in that market. By 2003, Honda had sold over more than 37,000 units while Mazda expected to sell at 7,000 units of its 4WD Demio series. And according to a research by J.D Power, 350,000 units of hybrids will be sold in the US alone by 2008. You can rest assure that the Japanese brand of EVs will make a significant chunk of that market. It helps to get the word out when celebrities like George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio are already hybrid drivers.

Japanese automakers Mitsubishi too is hoping to re-brand its market imagine by launching a series of EVs in Japan by 2010. Subaru too is teaming up with the Tokyo Power Company to launch a series of electric vehicles, based on Subaru's R1e minicars that will challenge Toyotas hybrids when it is launched.

While Japan continues to work on mass market models of EVs, engineer and designers there are also working on ever more impressive line of sporty and luxury models. The Eliica electric car, still only a prototype, can climb up to a speed of about 100mph in 7 seconds and reach a top speed of 400kmph. A brain child of Prof. Hiroshi Shimizu, Keio University, the car was produced with the help of a team of students.

Did we mention it has 8 wheels, four in the front and four in the back? A full charge from a normal outlet takes about 10 hours and that will keep you going for 200 miles. The point was to show the potential of EVs, and it's a point well taken. The California born Tesla is the only Super EV coming out anytime soon but it's a luxury sports car. And Detroit is still grumbling. But you can count on Japan's EV industry to take the world on a clean, eco-friendly spin.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Christodoulou

Ford plans to sell 5,000 to 10,000 Focus electric cars per year

Electric cars may be all the rage these days but making the technology cheap enough for mass-market will take some time. One of the leaders in this field is Ford, which is expected to have one of the first mass-produced all-electric cars on the market with its battery-powered Focus.
Arriving in 2011, the electric Focus is expected to be powered by a lithium-ion battery pack with a range of close to 100 miles. It won’t be cheap, however, as pricing will be set higher than a comparable petrol model, Ford’s president of the Americas, Mark Fields, revealed to Automotive News. This will "limit its appeal at least initially" but engineers are working to make the car "as affordable" as possible, he said.

Despite the high price tag the electric Focus is destined to bear, as well as the limited infrastructure for recharging, Ford hopes to entice around 5,000 to 10,000 customers a year. This figure is expected to rise as battery technology improves and production becomes cheaper, but for the first few years Ford will be chasing those numbers.

Ford is spending close to half-a-billion dollars to retool its Michigan SUV plant to build the global Focus. To help streamline costs for the electric Focus and remain up to date with new electric technology, the company is also part of a four-way ‘Eco-Partnership’ with organizations both in the U.S. and China.

Ford, Changan Auto Group and the cities of Chongqing, China, and Denver, Colorado, are exploring ways to develop projects to help further energy security and promote economic and environmental sustainability. Areas of focus could include developing electrified vehicle technologies, green city planning, efficient urban transportation and grid integration.