EVcast.com is the home of the EVcast. The EVcast is a podcast dedicated to bringing consumers the latest information on electric vehicles in a non-technical, non-political, and entertaining way. Don't forget, you can also subscribe to this podcast via iTunes or your favorite podcatcher.
NEW! Stream the latest episode of the EVcast from your website by including this one simple line of javascript:
<script src="http://www.igroops.com/evcast.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
Watch this Blog Notify me by e-mail any time a new post is made to this blog.
The EVcast is a podcast dedicated to bringing consumers the latest information on electric vehicles in a non-technical, non-political, and entertaining way.
Become Our Platinum SponsorProduct ID: 00000003Currently In Stock: 0
For the main sponsor, you get the big prize! A 622px wide x 100px tall banner that will appear on just about every page within EVcast.com, including blog posts. On the homepage, in place of the banner you will have a custom ... More »
Price: $2500.00
January 2009 Posts
Archives
Don't just listen to the EVcast -- experience and be a part of it! Join us at 1:00pm Eastern, M-F, in our live video broadcast and chat along with us!
The Xtreme Green website is http://www.xtremegreenproducts.com. They just announced their first partnership with a dealership in the southwest.
quote comment
On Shelby - the only power source I can think of that would last years would be something like this.
"Nuclear powered space probes like Pioneer have 'nuclear batteries' that (very inefficiently) convert heat from decaying isotopes into electricity. US researchers think a new material that converts radiation directly into power instead could make nuclear batteries 20 times more efficient. (Unfortunately they will likely not be user-replaceable.) The material consists of gold, carbon nanotubes, and lithium hydride."According to some recent research, it looks like materials physicists may have uncovered properties of nanomaterials that may allow for more efficient conversion of nuclear energy - radiation - directly into electrical current!
and of course what are you going to use as fuel- the only radioactive material that I know of is that is used in consumer products is americium-241 used in tiny amounts in smoke detectors .
in theory you could use the nuclear batteries to generate slightly over steady state- and a high power density battery or supercapacitor to provide for acceleration.
Bo knows how to make an unequivocal statement.
"... they are probably, most definitely..."
Now are you going with "probably" or "most definitely" on that one Bo? Ah the hey with it let the listeners figure it out.
There are several companies, Bo that are using the LiFePO4 chemistry- I think this type of battery is usually just called Lithium Phosphate, so when you hear hear Lithium Iron Phosphate, you think it is a different type of Li-Ion battery. Some of the US battery makers that are using this are A123 and Valence. This type of chemistry was first introduced by a University of Texas Prof 12 years ago. I'm sure there must be some sort of differences, either in the exact chemistry or how it is made- but essentially, they are all of the LiFePO4 chemistry. But there are other types of Lithium Phosphate as well, including Lithium Manganese Phosphate and Lithium Cobolt Phosphate. There is a good Wikipedia article on Li-Ion at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_ion_battery
As for the Zap Alias! I really hope they can bring a viable, sporty EV to market, but I am a bit skeptical.
And the Shelby Super EV and their extraordinary claims? Well- it should be an interesting interview tomorrow;-)
Oh- and in preparation for tomorrow, the Shelby site is: http://www.shelbysupercars.com/
Here is one reaction to their announcement: http://www.autobloggreen.com/tag/shelby+supercar/
I see don't see the wacky claims that people say are in Shelby's press release on Shelby site- the fast charging is done on a 220 volt plug- and no mention that I see of the batteries not having to be charged for years- two possible explainations 1. they meant the batteries won't have to be changed for years- 2.the other is they hold their charge (very small rate of discharge) for years.
Right, so the press release says 220V and 10 minute charge. Let's run the numbers. Assume that the 220V outlet can supply 60 amps (a generous assumption), then we have 220V * 60A = 13.2KW. Now 10 minutes is 0.167 hours, so we have 13.2KW * 0.167 hours =
2.2 KWHBy comparison the Tesla battery is 53 KWHSo rather than getting a "Full" charge, we are getting a 4% charge.
The only crediable claim of a 10-minute charge was from Aerovironment which used something like 480 V triple phase power.
This from the marketing directory of Shelby:
**There was a premature release that was leaked yesterday, if there were posts made based on this release, there is one major change that needs to be made. The 10 minute recharges are possible via a 220v outlet NOT a 110v outlet. In addition, there are a few new items in this official release including an email address to register for our media event. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused anyone.**
Still, hard to believe
Shelby revised the PR again:
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2009/02/01/shelby-super-cars-revises-incredible-claims-again-now-almost/
