A bus that only needs to be charged for 5 minutes through an overhead electric charging device at bus stops to run for 20 city blocks in China – is this the answer we have been looking for?

The first electrical trolley bus was invented in Germany in 1882. Over 125 years later, Electric Vehicle (EV) technology has indeed come a long way and EVs have become integrated into the fibre of people’s lives, especially when it comes to public transport. Various countries like Canada, USA, Germany, UK, Russia and India have been using electric buses and/or trains for a number of years now.

Taking public transport is great for energy saving. However, for some engineers this wasn’t quite enough and they’ve designed a bus that’s even more environmentally friendly. Check out this video on Ultra Capacitor Zero Emissions Transit Bus which has a very novel way of recharging.

Could it be that this bus will be the success story of EV applications and strengthen the case for battery-and-capacitor operated EVs by being more cost-effective? Or will it be yet another stepping stone in the long and colourful journey of the automotive industry? Only time will tell.

For now, this novel idea has gotten rid of the troublesome overhead power lines that cities like Vancouver base their electric bus system on by charging the onboard ultra capacitors at bus stops. This bus only needs to be charged for 5 minutes to run for 20 city blocks, and has a back-up battery that is good to go for 50 miles at a stretch. Is this bus the best application for EVs or are there ways to improve it further?

By the way, Foton China will be talking about commercial vehicles and buses in the Forum in August.

The Honda UX-3 is a bizarre contraption which rivals previous efforts like the Segway to become the next lightweight personal mobility solution.

The UX-3 is still at a prototype stage at the moment, but Honda intends to continue research and development of the vehicle to test the marketability and efficiency of the design. The UX-s features Honda’s omni-directional driving wheel system which enables smooth front, backward and side to side movements. This driving wheel system comprises of many smaller motor controlled wheels which help the vehicle travel side to side, but when in line make a much larger wheel which propels the vehicle forwards and backwards. These drive systems can work simultaneously to help the vehicle travel diagonally in any direction.

Anthropometrically the Honda UX-3 places the user at eye level with other walking pedestrians keeping a level hierarchy when in conversation. To move the vehicle in a particular direction the user just has to lean to his/her desired side. The vehicle miraculously manages to balance itself using the same sensor technology that powers Honda’s popular ASIMO robot. The product weights less than 10KG and utilises a lithium ion battery which should power the device for approximately 1 hour of operation.

Purpose and market appreciation aside, the industrial design from an aesthetic perspective is truly beautiful. It has a real space-age-look in finish and form. It is an object that has been designed in a real 3d manner with every orthographic viewing angle offering something visually interesting and dynamic. In future iterations of this design more work should be placed in some kind of handle for the user to grasp onto. Even the beautiful young girl in the marketing photos looks somewhat jittery in balance and there is a sense of awkwardness in where she places her hands.

European makers are out to prove they can dominate the battery car field

AP Michael Macht, President and CEO of Porsche, presents the Porsche 918 Spyder Concept car, which has hybrid and electric drive technology, in Geneva.

 

 

By Paul A. Eisenstein

msnbc.com contributor

updated 8:39 a.m. ET March 31, 2010

The crowds began swelling long before the news conference was set to begin at the Porsche stand earlier this month at the Geneva Motor Show. A few early birds were there simply to get a good seat, but most had been drawn by word of a top secret project the sports car maker was intending to unveil.

When all the covers were lifted, there sat the 918 Spyder Concept, an elegant, if aggressive-looking, 2-seat convertible supercar. True to form, the 918 prototype promised blisteringly fast performance, launching from 0 to 60 in 3.1 seconds and hitting a top speed of 198 mph.

There’s another number that’s equally impressive, if less in line with the Porsche image, however: the convertible concept, suggested CEO Michael Macht, could deliver an estimated 78 miles per gallon.

“This way, you can go very fast and it still would be socially acceptable,” Macht explained as he sat inside the 918 Spyder.

It was a sign, if you will, that European automakers are throwing some of their resources into electric-powered vehicles, after hitching most of their horsepower to diesel.

Under the skin, the sports car featured a 500-horsepower V8 mounted midship and mated to a 218-horsepower electric motor drawing power from a large lithium-ion battery pack. Like the more mundane Chevrolet Volt, the system can be plugged into an everyday electric socket — or a high-speed charger — permitting the 918 prototype to be used as a commuter car, running on batteries alone, or switched to high performance mode using battery and gas power combined.

While officially still a show car, Macht confirmed Porsche is actively working on the 918’s underlying technology. The Spyder itself could go into production as early as 2013, but even if it doesn’t make the cut, the plug-in hybrid powertrain is all but certain to show up in some other Porsche model, such as the classic 911 sports car or the Boxster roadster.

And if and when it does, it would become the second hybrid system from Porsche. Sitting alongside the 918 Spyder, on the Geneva stand, Porsche previewed a more conventional gas-electric version of its second-generation Cayenne sport-utility vehicle, which is due to market for the 2011 model-year.

While Porsche may have stolen the show with its various hybrid models, it had plenty of company at Geneva’s PALExpo convention center.

Until recently, European makers seemed oblivious of the push for electric propulsion. Seeing hybrids and other battery cars as a Japanese technology, makers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW were determined to fight back with their own high-mileage alternative, the diesel.

Suddenly, there’s a shift in strategy, and while European makers aren’t walking away from diesel, they’re determined to prove that they can dominate the battery car field too.

“The battery cars of the past weren’t sexy,” said Peter Schwarzenbauer, global marketing chief for Audi. “Nobody cared.”

Not unless your idea of the erotic was a 60 mpg sedan like the Toyota Prius. But even sports car aficionados are finding it hard to resist something like the Porsche 918 and the Audi etron, a 2-seat battery-electric sports car the Volkswagen AG subsidiary may put into production by mid-decade.

Meanwhile, Audi’s mainstream sibling, Volkswagen, is hoping to cover all the battery bases. Its own battery-electric vehicle, or BEV, the eUP, is also slated to debut in the next few years, while the maker’s first gasoline-electric hybrid will reach showrooms in 2011. The timing is less than coincidental, since VW and Porsche jointly developed both the Touareg and Cayenne SUVs, as well as the hybrid drivetrains they share.

Though we're a long way from hearing NASCAR announcers saying, "Drivers, plug-in your batteries," it seems pretty clear that the era of electric vehicles (EV) is about to begin. The first mass produced EV cars will be coming to a Nissan (Leaf) or Chevy (Volt) dealer near you by the end of this year. And, in some places at least, the scramble to install charging stations is shifting into high gear.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: Trexa EV Platform
Manufacturer: Trexa

The word

When we introduced this idea from Trexa last month, it didn't have a price tag and was still just a (really good) idea.

Now, the DIY electric car platform that includes everything you need but seats and a steering wheel has a price tag too, and it's amazingly affordable.

Yep, the Trexa platform is only $15,999 and it includes batteries (7kWh), battery management and control systems, a charger, wheels base lengths up to 96 inches) and even the wheels and motor. The Vehicle Developer's Kit (VDK) also includes CAD models and misc. hardware to finish it off.

So you get a fully-functional, operating vehicle platform that you can do anything you'd like with for only $15,999.

Country: US
Author: Reuters

Photo: Sam VarnHagen/Ford Motor Company/Handout

Ford Motor Company's Transit Connect Electric vehicle is pictured in Chicago, Illinois, February 11, 2010.

Journalists attending the show had the opportunity to drive the first of at least 4 new electrified vehicles Ford will be offering over the next three years.

2010 Toyota Prius

Auto Channel Central February 5, 2010; Latest Toyota Prius recall news. In spite of reported complaints that have flooded into Toyota about its 2010 Prius brakes seemingly not working on bumpy or slippery roads. Toyota Motor Corp is still just considering a recall in Japan and the United States over those complaints although Toyota New Zealand recalled all 260 of its 2010 Prius cars it sold there.

As of now the company said it plans to carry out voluntary repairs to fix the problem by improving the software for the antilock brake system, which electronically prevents vehicles from slipping.

Toyota said it is now in talks with both Japanese and U.S. regulators on whether to go one giant step further and issue mandatory recall amid uncertainty spreading among consumers.

Subject to this possible recall is Toyota’s new Prius, which was rolled out in May and has remained a top-seller in January for eight consecutive months in Japan.

Toyota has sold about 170,000 units in Japan and about 100,000 units in the United States.

Toyota said it has already changed the software for the newly produced models since late January and these will not be subject to the recall if it happens.

On Thursday February 4 the NHTSA said it opened an investigation into the 2010 Prius, saying it had received 124 reports from consumers about its brakes, including four reports of crashes.

NHTSA said it is investigating reports that antilock brakes can fail momentarily on some 2010 models in slippery conditions or on rough roads.

Toyota says it already made a change in the 2010 braking system last month to correctcars in production, but has not made a decision about how to correct the problem in cars already in customers garages and on the road.

In spite of the recent problems, we here at The Auto Channel still believe that Toyota vehicles are solid reliable and safe and have the utmost confidence that under Akio Toyoda's leadership will make it right for their customers, now and in the future.

Timeline of Battery History

• 1748 - Benjamin Franklin first coined the term "battery" to describe an array of charged glass plates.
• 1780 to 1786 - Luigi Galvani demonstrated what we now understand to be the electrical basis of nerve impulses and provided the cornerstone of research for later inventors like Volta.
• 1800 - Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile and discovered the first practical method of generating electricity. Constructed of alternating discs of zinc and copper with pieces of cardboard soaked in brine between the metals, the voltic pile produced electrical current. The metallic conducting arc was used to carry the electricity over a greater distance. Alessandro Volta's voltaic pile was the first "wet cell battery" that produced a reliable, steady current of electricity. 
• 1836 - Englishman, John F. Daniel invented the Daniel Cell that used two electrolytes: copper sulfate and zinc sulfate. The Daniel Cell was somewhat safer and less corrosive then the Volta cell. 
• 1839 - William Robert Grove developed the first fuel cell, which produced electrical by combining hydrogen and oxygen.
• 1839 to 1842 - Inventors created improvements to batteries that used liquid electrodes to produce electricity. Bunsen (1842) and Grove (1839) invented the most successful.
• 1859 - French inventor, Gaston Plante developed the first practical storage lead-acid battery that could be recharged (secondary battery). This type of battery is primarily used in cars today.
• 1866 - French engineer, Georges Leclanche patented the carbon-zinc wet cell battery called the Leclanche cell. According to The History of Batteries: "George Leclanche's original cell was assembled in a porous pot. The positive electrode consisted of crushed manganese dioxide with a little carbon mixed in. The negative pole was a zinc rod. The cathode was packed into the pot, and a carbon rod was inserted to act as a currency collector. The anode or zinc rod and the pot were then immersed in an ammonium chloride solution. The liquid acted as the electrolyte, readily seeping through the porous cup and making contact with the cathode material. The liquid acted as the electrolyte, readily seeping through the porous cup and making contact with the cathode material."
• 1868 - Twenty thousand of Georges Leclanche's cells were now being used withtelegraph equipment.
• 1881 - J.A. Thiebaut patented the first battery with both the negative electrode and porous pot placed in a zinc cup.
• 1881 - Carl Gassner invented the first commercially successful dry cell battery (zinc-carbon cell).
• 1899 - Waldmar Jungner invented the first nickel-cadmium rechargeable battery.
• 1901 - Thomas Alva Edison invented the alkaline storage battery.
• 1949 - Lew Urry invented the small alkaline battery.
• 1954 - Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin invented the first solar battery.

Alessandro Volta 
Biography of Alessandro Volta the inventor of the first practical battery in 1880.

Alkaline Battery 
Lew Urry developed the small alkaline battery in 1949. The inventor was working for the Eveready Battery Co. at their research laboratory in Parma, Ohio. Alkaline batteries last five to eight times as long as zinc-carbon cells, their predecessors. This was not a patentable invention, since Volta and others long ago created the principles of batteries.

Solar Battery 
A solar battery converts the sun's energy to electricity. In 1954, Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl Chapin invented the first solar battery. The inventors created an array of several strips of silicon (each about the size of a razorblade), placed them in sunlight, captured the free electrons and turned them into electrical current. Bell Laboratories in New York announced the prototype manufacture of a new solar battery. Bell had funded the research. The first public service trial of the Bell Solar Battery began with a telephone carrier system (Americus, Georgia) on October 4 1955.

The history of photovoltaics includes the discovery of the solar battery. PV is the technological basis for solar power.

©Mary Bellis 

This paper reviews and ranks major proposed energy-related solutions to global warming, air pollution mortality, and energy security while considering other impacts of the proposed solutions, such as on water supply, land use, wildlife, resource availability, thermal pollution, water chemical pollution, nuclear proliferation, and undernutrition. Nine electric power sources and two liquid fuel options are considered. The electricity sources include solar-photovoltaics (PV), concentrated solar power (CSP), wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, wave, tidal, nuclear, and coal with carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. The liquid fuel options include corn-ethanol (E85) and cellulosic-E85. To place the electric and liquid fuel sources on an equal footing, we examine their comparative abilities to address the problems mentioned by powering new-technology vehicles, including battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs), and flex-fuel vehicles run on E85. Twelve combinations of energy source-vehicle type are considered. Upon ranking and weighting each combination with respect to each of 11 impact categories, four clear divisions of ranking, or tiers, emerge. Tier 1 (highest-ranked) includes wind-BEVs and wind-HFCVs. Tier 2 includes CSP-BEVs, geothermal-BEVs, PV-BEVs, tidal-BEVs, and wave-BEVs. Tier 3 includes hydro-BEVs, nuclear-BEVs, and CCS-BEVs. Tier 4 includes corn- and cellulosic-E85. Wind-BEVs ranked first in seven out of 11 categories, including the two most important, mortality and climate damage reduction. Although HFCVs are much less efficient than BEVs, wind-HFCVs are still very clean and were ranked second among all combinations. Tier 2 options provide significant benefits and are recommended. Tier 3 options are less desirable. However, hydroelectricity, which was ranked ahead of coal-CCS and nuclear with respect to climate and health, is an excellent load balancer, thus recommended. The Tier 4 combinations (cellulosic- and corn-E85) were ranked lowest overall and with respect to climate, air pollution, land use, wildlife damage, and chemical waste. Cellulosic-E85 ranked lower than corn-E85 overall, primarily due to its potentially larger land footprint based on new data and its higher upstream air pollution emissions than corn-E85. Whereas cellulosic-E85 may cause the greatest average human mortality, nuclear-BEVs cause the greatest upper-limit mortality risk due to the expansion of plutonium separation and uranium enrichment in nuclear energy facilities worldwide. Wind-BEVs and CSP-BEVs cause the least mortality. The footprint area of wind-BEVs is 2–6 orders of magnitude less than that of any other option. Because of their low footprint and pollution, wind-BEVs cause the least wildlife loss. The largest consumer of water is corn-E85. The smallest are wind-, tidal-, and wave-BEVs. The US could theoretically replace all 2007 onroad vehicles with BEVs powered by 73000–144000 5 MW wind turbines, less than the 300000 airplanes the US produced during World War II, reducing US CO₂ by 32.5–32.7% and nearly eliminating 15000/yr vehicle-related air pollution deaths in 2020. In sum, use of wind, CSP, geothermal, tidal, PV, wave, and hydro to provide electricity for BEVs and HFCVs and, by extension, electricity for the residential, industrial, and commercial sectors, will result in the most benefit among the options considered. The combination of these technologies should be advanced as a solution to global warming, air pollution, and energy security. Coal-CCS and nuclear offer less benefit thus represent an opportunity cost loss, and the biofuel options provide no certain benefit and the greatest negative impacts.

• The importance of air
• What is smog?
• Table of main air pollutants
• Industry and air pollution
• Air pollution in Victoria
• EPA's role in the pollution solution
• Quiz: Air and air pollution

Cars and Air Pollution

The Extent Of The Problem

Drive time, peak hour, freeway, take-away delivery, drive through....the introduction of the automobile has had a huge impact on our lifestyle and environment.

Cars may get us from A to B (and sometimes even C and D) with a minimum of fuss, but they also cause lots of pollution.

Yes, that's right. In major cities and large towns throughout the world, motor vehicles cause a wide range of air pollution problems.

What's the largest contributor to air pollution in the world?

Cars!

Fossil fuel combustion, particularly as it occurs in motor vehicles, has been identified as the LARGEST contributor to air pollution in the WORLD.

In Melbourne, motor vehicles cause most of the air pollution, except during cooler months when wood fires contribute significantly.

The Impact Of Petrol Run Vehicles

Not all pollution produced by cars is the same. In fact, there are two types of pollution discharged by petrol vehicles.

1. Exhaust emissions: including dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen, hydrocarbons and particulates.
2. Evaporative emissions: vapours of fuel which are released into the atmosphere, without being burnt.

Fuel vapour can be seen coming out of the car's petrol tank when you fill up at the service station, and can be reduced if we avoid spilling petrol and overfilling our cars. Properly fitted fuel caps can also stop further leakage of fuel vapours.

Oh What A Year!

1975...the year colour television was first introduced to Australians, ABBA's first album hit the Oz Top 10 and a rule requiring all new cars sold in Australia to be fitted with basic anti-pollution equipment was introduced.

Even better...since January 1986, all new cars have been built with catalytic converters and have been designed to run on unleaded petrol.

The thing most motorists forget though is that, whether you use leaded or unleaded petrol, your car will still be polluting more than necessary if it is not properly tuned and maintained.

If a car is well maintained and properly tuned it is likely to emit between 9 to 25 per cent less pollution into the atmosphere than a similar, poorly maintained vehicle. In addition, well maintained cars are also more fuel efficient...so you and your family have more money to spare for things other than petrol!

Smoky vehicles

What Exactly Is A Smoky Vehicle?

Under Victorian guidelines, a car is only considered smoky if it emits visible smoke from its exhaust pipe for a continuous period of more than 10 seconds.

Your car is not classified as smoky if the exhaust emissions are caused by heat or the condensation of water vapour, which can occur when the car has just been started, particularly on cold days.

Smoky cars contribute far more to air pollution than well maintained cars. Anyone who has driven behind or walked near a smoky car will know, smoky car exhausts are very offensive as well as posing a risk to public health.

In certain circumstances, even well maintained vehicles can sometimes produce smoke from their exhaust. This can occur during heavy acceleration, climbing steep hills and as engine turbos and supercharges are building sufficient speed to provide enough air to burn fuel properly.

How Is The Smoke Harmful?

Smoke is a by-product of incomplete combustion. Incomplete combustion can significantly increase the quantity of certain toxic chemicals discharged by vehicles into the air.

These chemicals can cause mild to severe irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. They can also be absorbed into the body and cause deterioration in general health. The extent of these detrimental effects on people's health is related to the length of time one is exposed to vehicle emissions, the concentration of fumes breathed and various other factors such as age and health.

For example, an EPA study into the affects of air pollution found a link between high levels of fine particles, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide and an increase in the number of hospital admissions for respiratory and cardiovascular disease (EPA Publication 789).

What Causes A Vehicle To Be Smoky?

There are many reasons why a vehicle might emit continuous smoke:

• spark plugs need replacement or cleaning
• ignition timing needs adjustment
• worn piston rings, pistons or cylinder bores
• worn valve stem guides or seals
• sump over-filled with engine oil
• blocked air cleaner
• faulty electronic or mechanical controls in parts such as the choke
• poor, contaminated or incorrect density or grade of fuel
• blocked or damaged fuel filter
• incorrectly set or damaged fuel injectors or fuel pump
• incorrectly set or damaged turbo or super charges.

Remember, this list is just a guide and might not be relevant to both diesel and petrol cars.

What Can We Do About It?

Cleaner air for Melbourne and Victoria is up to everybody, including you!

Make sure your friends and family who own cars are looking after them!

Motor Vehicle Myths

Most people know that cars are major pollutants. But there are some nasty myths going around about what causes car pollution. Let's put them to the test right now!

Myth #1 Old cars pollute more than new cars. Old cars do not necessarily pollute most. Newer cars, which are not properly tuned and maintained, also cause a lot of pollution.

Myth #2 Unleaded petrol is better for the environment. Whether you use leaded or unleaded petrol your car will still pollute more than necessary if it is not tuned and maintained.

What Does The Future Hold?

Car use is increasing every year, however, Victoria's air quality has actually been improving because of tighter controls on car emissions.

Hybrid vehicles are now available which get their energy from batteries or petrol. These cars are still uncommon, but they are pointing the way to a future with cars contributing less to air pollution.

The battle isn't over! People will need to use their cars responsibly and keep them in tip top condition so we can continue to improve matters and ensure we have nice clean air.

By Jayashree Pakhare (buzzle.com)