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  • Zero Motorcycles Announces Consumer Financing

    Zero Motorcycles Announces Consumer Financing November 7th, 2009 By Jason Hendler's avatar Jason Hendler, Author, November 7th, 2009 Jason Hendler 0 Comments

    Zero Motorcycles Announces Consumer Financing

    I received the following in an email from Zero Motorcycles:

    "We are excited to announce that consumer financing is now available for all of our motorcycles. This means that you can purchase a Zero S or DS for as low as $290 a month after your deposit or one of our off-road motorcycles for even less. Unlike a typical loan, you can also finance the purchase of all your accessories, upgrades and even apparel. In addition, the Zero S and DS are eligible for a 10% Federal tax credit. This effectively gives you a post Federal tax credit price of $8995.

    To learn more about financing a Zero or to place an order using consumer finance please visit...

    I received the following in an email from Zero Motorcycles: "We are excited to announce that consumer financing is now available for all of our motorcycles. This means that you can purchase a Zero S or DS for as low as $290 a month after your deposit or one of our off-road motorcycles for even less. Unlike a typical loan, you can also finance the purchase of all your accessories, upgrades and even apparel. In addition, the Zero S and DS are eligible for a 10% Federal tax credit. This effectively gives you a post Federal tax credit price of $8995. To learn more about financing a Zero or to place an order using consumer finance please visit our website." The ability of companies like Zero Motorcycles and Tesla Motors to offer financing, instead of the consumer going to a bank, should significantly improve their ability to close sales.  Look for additional EV distributors offering financing of their own to speed adoption of these vehicles. Read More

  • Electronics Supplier Denso Looks to Enter Hybrid and EV Battery Market

    Electronics Supplier Denso Looks to Enter Hybrid and EV Battery Market November 7th, 2009 By Eric Loveday Eric Loveday, Author, November 7th, 2009 Eric Loveday 1 Comment

    Electronics Supplier Denso Looks to Enter Hybrid and EV Battery Market

    Denso, a Japanese automotive supplier, is aiming to enter the hybrid and electric vehicle market.  The supplier, whose largest shareholder is Toyota, currently supplies items such as inverters, electronic control modules, various sensors, and other electronic gadgetry for several automakers.  With long standing expertise in the electronics field the company now looks to become a leading supplier in the hybrid and electric vehicle segment with a focus on battery technology.

    Toyota currently holds a 23% stake in supplier Denso and is the worldwide leader in sales of hybrid vehicles.  With Denso entering the hybrid and electric market, Toyota...

    Denso, a Japanese automotive supplier, is aiming to enter the hybrid and electric vehicle market.  The supplier, whose largest shareholder is Toyota, currently supplies items such as inverters, electronic control modules, various sensors, and other electronic gadgetry for several automakers.  With long standing expertise in the electronics field the company now looks to become a leading supplier in the hybrid and electric vehicle segment with a focus on battery technology. Toyota currently holds a 23% stake in supplier Denso and is the worldwide leader in sales of hybrid vehicles.  With Denso entering the hybrid and electric market, Toyota would have a controlling interest in a company who specializes in components needed by the automaker.  Further, more suppliers in the already crowded battery supply field would drive down costs of components. Denso has been working on lithium-ion battery technology for the last 15 years.  Initially the company had hoped to enter the consumer electronics li-ion market, but now has decided to apply their expertise in the automotive field.  However, all is not positive for Toyota.  If Denso moves into the automotive battery market, Toyota's joint venture with Panasonic, who supplies all of the batteries for the companies hybrid vehicles, would be met with competition from Denso.  Toyota's joint venture with Panasonic as well as a 23% stake in Denso could result in conflicts later on. Source:  Automotive News (Login Required) Read More

  • Hybrid Off-Road Military Vehicle Debuts At SEMA

    Hybrid Off-Road Military Vehicle Debuts At SEMA November 6th, 2009 By Jon Vandervelde's avatar Jon Vandervelde, Author, November 6th, 2009 Jon Vandervelde 0 Comments

    Hybrid Off-Road Military Vehicle Debuts At SEMA

    Wannabee U.S. Military contractor TAC-V amazed the SEMA show Wednesday by unveiling the world's only hybrid-electric, armor-ready, four occupant, triple-machine gun mounting,  off-road, recon vehicle that’s capable of being transported inside the vertical-takeoff-and-landing V-22 Osprey airplane.

    With it's diesel/electric hybrid, the JAMMA (Joint All-Terrain Modular Mobility Asset) makes 398lb/ft of torque at just 1,800 RPM and can travel up to 450 miles over rough ground at 21 MPG.   It's also capable of exporting up to 23 Kw of power to the electronic equipment (a big deal in the military, where auxiliary equipment is more likely to mean a...

    Wannabee U.S. Military contractor TAC-V amazed the SEMA show Wednesday by unveiling the world's only hybrid-electric, armor-ready, four occupant, triple-machine gun mounting,  off-road, recon vehicle that’s capable of being transported inside the vertical-takeoff-and-landing V-22 Osprey airplane. With it's diesel/electric hybrid, the JAMMA (Joint All-Terrain Modular Mobility Asset) makes 398lb/ft of torque at just 1,800 RPM and can travel up to 450 miles over rough ground at 21 MPG.   It's also capable of exporting up to 23 Kw of power to the electronic equipment (a big deal in the military, where auxiliary equipment is more likely to mean a roof-mounted radar or satellite up-link than an aftermarket Blaupunkt). You might think the curiously narrow proportions of the truck are to reduce weight and maximize hybrid efficiency, or to allow it to squeeze into the Osprey, but if so, think again, nerd!  This baby is built narrow so that the machine guns can better cover a full 360 degree field-of-fire.  Now that's efficient! [SOURCE:Jalopnik, CarDomain] Read More

  • Volvo Revolutionizes the Lowly Garbage Truck With the Hybrid FE

    Volvo Revolutionizes the Lowly Garbage Truck With the Hybrid FE November 6th, 2009 By Eric Loveday Eric Loveday, Author, November 6th, 2009 Eric Loveday 1 Comment

    Volvo Revolutionizes the Lowly Garbage Truck With the Hybrid FE

    The typical neighborhood garbage truck is not an environmentally friendly sight.  With its loud diesel engine that spews CO2 and burns an outrageous amount of fuel this is not a vehicle typically associated with a "greener" tomorrow.  However, it does a great service for communities and is essential to clean living.  Without that garbage truck what would we do?

    Understanding that garbage trucks are a necessity to modern living, Volvo has decided to modernize it.  The new Volvo FE garbage truck will go on sale in 2012.  This commercial vehicle utilizes a parallel hybrid setup that promises increased efficiency, less pollution, and less...

    The typical neighborhood garbage truck is not an environmentally friendly sight.  With its loud diesel engine that spews CO2 and burns an outrageous amount of fuel this is not a vehicle typically associated with a "greener" tomorrow.  However, it does a great service for communities and is essential to clean living.  Without that garbage truck what would we do? Understanding that garbage trucks are a necessity to modern living, Volvo has decided to modernize it.  The new Volvo FE garbage truck will go on sale in 2012.  This commercial vehicle utilizes a parallel hybrid setup that promises increased efficiency, less pollution, and less noise.  The Volvo FE utilizes a lithium-ion battery pack that allows it to operate at low speeds without the use of its onboard engine.  The 600V lithium-ion battery pack is mated to a 3 phase 120kW motor and joined by a 7 liter diesel engine, that outputs 300 hp and 800 Nm of torque.  According to Volvo, this setup reduces typical fuel consumption by 30%  and CO2 emissions by 20% over its non-hybrid counterparts while also eliminating some of the noise pollution associated with garbage trucks. The Volvo FE garbage truck with its advanced hybrid powertrain will allow neighborhoods to breathe easier and in some cases sleep longer as the municipal departments goes about their business of ridding the city of trash. Source:  Volvo Press Release  WITH VOLVO, THE HYBRID FUTURE IS ALREADY HERE Volvo Trucks took on the hybrid powertrain challenge as early as the 1980s and years of subsequent research, development and testing has led to the new cutting edge Volvo FE Hybrid. The solution: parallel hybrid technology using up to 30 per cent less fuel. One of the quintessential sounds of the city is the early-morning rumble of the diesel-powered refuse truck as it stop-starts up the street accompanied by the occasional tinkle of breaking glass from the rubbish in the compactor. Now, however, this backing track to urban life is about to change with the introduction of the hybrid engine. At low speeds the hybrid truck will replace the diesel's growl with a muted electric hum. The Volvo FE Hybrid, which will be available for distribution trucks and city buses as well as refuse trucks, will be a significant stride forward for environmentally-friendly automotive technology. Besides the considerable noise reductions, the hybrid will reduce CO2 emissions and fuel consumption by 15–20 per cent depending on the application. Volvo has achieved reductions of up to 30 per cent with a plug-in superstructure for waste compression. "This is the way forward for inner-city stop-start applications," says Henrik Kloo, who co-ordinated the Volvo FE Hybrid project for Volvo Trucks. "As fuel prices increase and awareness of climate change grows, everyone is asking what they can do. This is part of the answer." While the Volvo FE is right at the cutting edge of hybrid technology, the idea of combining an internal combustion engine with an electric motor is nothing new. Indeed, the first patent for a hybrid engine was granted in 1899 to a young inventor by the name of Ferdinand Porsche. Volvo Trucks has been involved with demonstrators and theoretical studies of hybrids since the mid-1980s and has tested various technologies, from mechanical hybrids to hydraulic hybrids to electric hybrids. In 2002 an advanced engineering project got underway to investigate which sort of hybrid solution would provide the best combination of fuel efficiency, robustness and cost effectiveness. "We ruled out quite a few configurations of hybrids because they were too expensive, and ended up with what is known as a parallel hybrid system, in which you use one electric machine and an automatically-geared mechanical gearbox," says Anders Kroon, director of hybrid technology at Volvo Powertrain, the Volvo Group's internal producer of powertrain systems. In 2006 the project resulted in a FM9 hybrid truck, the first test of a parallel hybrid. Unlike the more traditional series hybrid approach, where an electric motor alone drives the wheels and a combustion engine charges the batteries, a parallel hybrid uses either the electric motor or the combustion engine – or both together. There is a normal diesel engine and a gearbox, but in between the clutch and the gearbox sits the electric motor. It is a reliable construction and the diesel and electric motors can be used independently of each other. "These two power sources work on the same axle through the gearbox and that drives the wheels," says Henrik Kloo. "That means that when you start the truck from standstill you engage the electric motor because it is better when starting off with heavy loads from zero: higher torque at lower revs. Then when you get up to higher speeds the diesel engine is activated and these two work together, or if the control system feels it is better then the diesel engine can take over. When you are running at high speed it behaves like a traditional truck, but at low speeds is behaves more like an electric vehicle." During braking, the electric motor works as an engine brake, reducing brake wear and recovering braking energy. While Volvo Powertrain has developed dozens of diesel engines over the years, the task of coming up with a hybrid solution for large-scale production threw up a number of challenges, several of them connected to the battery and its control system. The battery chosen by Volvo for the Volvo FE Hybrid is a lithium ion battery, with the same chemistry as the batteries found in mobile phones and laptops, but considerably larger – it weighs about 200 kgs. "The battery is the 'Achilles heel' in all hybrids throughout the automotive industry," says Kroon. "Even though there has been significant development with nickel metal hydride technology, lithium ion technology and super-capacitors as energy storage, there is still a lot of ground to be covered before we have a completely robust system." The 600-volt system used in the Volvo FE requires hundreds of lithium ion cells in series. "The challenge is how to manage this to make it act as a robust system," says Kroon. "To handle these kinds of electric energy levels we have incorporated protective systems that shut down the battery and isolate it from the rest of the vehicle in case of an accident or someone doing something wrong when working on the system." The result is an advanced system which analyses what is happening and takes appropriate action if needed. "It has to happen blisteringly fast and it has to function in all situations," says Kroon. "There are a lot of safety systems around the battery and the entire high-voltage system on board the truck." As anyone with a three-year-old mobile phone or laptop can testify, lithium ion batteries have a limited lifespan. But Volvo is aiming for a lifespan of up to eight years for its batteries, depending on driving cycle. "That should resemble the lifetime of the truck, maybe with one battery change," says Henrik Kloo. "Here there needs to be a bit of a trade-off as you can have greater fuel savings if you compromise on the lifetime of the battery." Once the issues surrounding the battery had been solved, the next step was finding suppliers. "This technology is new not just for us but for the supplier structure," says Anders Kroon. As there has been no large-scale production of these batteries, new factories have had to be built. "The major challenge facing the battery industry has been to stabilise production from these new factories to provide good reliability and good productivity to match that of the system integrator who provides us with the energy storage system." Volvo Trucks is currently carrying out field tests with test hybrids in commercial operations together with selected customers. Although considerable progress has been made from the technical viewpoint, the global financial crisis has affected both product development and the haulage industry's investment potential, so small-scale series production of the Volvo FE Hybrid will not get under way until 2012. At the same time, a hybrid solution for long-haul applications is being investigated. Although the potential savings in percentage terms are not as great as for urban stop-start driving, the distances covered mean that considerable emission and fuel consumption reductions are also possible on the open road. Anders Kroon declares himself extremely happy with the outcome of the Volvo FE Hybrid project. "The result for the customer will be great," he says. "Once functionality and reliability have been proven, we will gain trust for these new technologies. I think the Volvo Group has a great product coming." How the Volvo FE Hybrid works Volvo's solution utilises parallel hybrid technology, which means that the diesel engine and the electric motor can work both together and separately. The electric motor has three tasks: to power the vehicle, to serve as an alternator when the vehicle brakes, and to act as a starter motor to fire up the diesel engine. Energy from braking is used to recharge the batteries. On uphill gradients, the electric motor can step in to assist the diesel engine to provide added power. Peripheral equipment such as the servo pump, air compressor and power take-off, which in a conventional truck are driven by the engine, can in a hybrid use small electric motors instead. This gives greater freedom in positioning the relevant components and they only consume energy when they are actually being used. Technical Specifications Diesel engine: Volvo D7 7-litre Power output: 300–340 hp Electric motor: 3-phase permanent magnet synchronous electric motor 600 volts Max. power output: 120 kW Max. torque: 800 Nm Transmission: I-Shift Batteries: Lithium ion 600 V Read More

  • Daimler to Build New Alternative Propulsion Development Facility in Redford Michigan

    Daimler to Build New Alternative Propulsion Development Facility in Redford Michigan November 6th, 2009 By Eric Loveday Eric Loveday, Author, November 6th, 2009 Eric Loveday 0 Comments

    Daimler to Build New Alternative Propulsion Development Facility in Redford Michigan

    Daimler has decided to extend work on hybrid and other alternative propulsion systems at a new facility specifically built to focus solely on alternative propulsion.  The company  will open a new alternative power train development facility in Redford Township, Michigan.

    Previously, Daimler's only North American involvement with hybrid products was through the joint venture two-mode hybrid program.  The program has come to completion and the power trains are now widely used in several models from various manufacturers.  Rather than ending hybrid development in the States and reverting back to Germany, the company will establish its own...

    Daimler has decided to extend work on hybrid and other alternative propulsion systems at a new facility specifically built to focus solely on alternative propulsion.  The company  will open a new alternative power train development facility in Redford Township, Michigan. Previously, Daimler's only North American involvement with hybrid products was through the joint venture two-mode hybrid program.  The program has come to completion and the power trains are now widely used in several models from various manufacturers.  Rather than ending hybrid development in the States and reverting back to Germany, the company will establish its own development facilities here. The facility in Redford Township will not only work on hybrid models but also on all forms of alternative propulsion including the development of electric vehicles.  The facility will be located on the same grounds as Detroit Diesel, which is also owned by Daimler. Of course Michigan was not chosen by Daimler without a little support from the state government.  The State of Michigan extended $7.5 million in tax breaks to the company and the township of Redford also helped out.  The facility is expected to employ 220 engineers and techs within the next few years. Source  Detroit Free Press Print Edition Read More

  • The Green Side of SEMA

    The Green Side of SEMA November 5th, 2009 By Robert Scardino's avatar Robert Scardino, Author, November 5th, 2009 Robert Scardino 1 Comment

    The Green Side of SEMA

    November is a time to give thanks...for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). These are the people and companies who make car enthusiasts drool with automotive add-ons and accessories fit for a classic episode of Pimp My Ride.

    Each November, when the SEMA show takes place in Las Vegas, exhibitors from around the world put their wildest modified cars on display. As the concept of electric vehicles gains momentum, more and more EVs and hybrids appear on the show floor.

    This year, Hybrid Cars found three mean green machines that have as much in common with a Prius as they do with your neighbor's souped-up Mustang.

    Among the more...

    November is a time to give thanks...for the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA). These are the people and companies who make car enthusiasts drool with automotive add-ons and accessories fit for a classic episode of Pimp My Ride. Each November, when the SEMA show takes place in Las Vegas, exhibitors from around the world put their wildest modified cars on display. As the concept of electric vehicles gains momentum, more and more EVs and hybrids appear on the show floor. This year, Hybrid Cars found three mean green machines that have as much in common with a Prius as they do with your neighbor's souped-up Mustang. Among the more eco-friendly muscle cars is a variant of the Nissan Altima Hybrid. What started as a mainstream, fuel efficient family sedan, turned into a flat-out race car. Braille Battery of Sarasota, Florida, modified the Altima with a supercharger, racing suspension, brakes and tires, and a roll cage. Now the Altima makes 450 horsepower and runs the quarter mile in less than 13 seconds. (No word on what's left of the fuel economy.) Sunshine State Restoration turned a Porsche 912 into a fully-electric sports car, replacing its gas engine with 85 lithium-ion batteries. The batteries supply 310 volts to a 40 horsepower motor. Its creators say that the zero-emissions roadster has a range of about 100 miles and achieves a top speed of 100 mph. For those enamored with "vintage" GM products, a 1985 diesel-hybrid Chevy Blazer is also on display. A 1.0 liter diesel engine and a lead-acid battery share the task of moving the Blazer. A roof-mounted solar collector heats water that's directed to an exhaust-gas driven turbine, which powers an auxiliary alternator to charge the battery. Additional turbines are used on the Blazer's grille and in conjunction with the shock absorbers to generate even more power. Props to SEMA for showing us that going green doesn't have to be boring. Will Toyota ever get the memo? Source (story and photo): Hybrid Cars Read More

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