Aug
12
The Electric Vehicle Age Begins in Earnest
August 12, 2010 | 2 Comments
This year will see the GM Volt and Nissan Leaf go on sale and likely deliver to buyers following the Tesla Roadster success with electric motors connected to the driving wheels. The two are of three very different designs representing the three main manufactured groups of choices we’ll see. Then there are the Do It [...]
Aug
5
Micro Turbines Headed for Hybrid Trucks
August 5, 2010 | 2 Comments
Capstone Turbine Corporation a leading clean technology manufacturer of microturbine energy systems announced last week that it has initiated a demonstration project with a major U.S. manufacturer of Class 5 through Class 8 heavy-duty trucks. The demonstrator will utilize a Capstone 65kW microturbine as a clean, efficient range extender in a hybrid electric drive system. [...]
Dec
29
An Electric Hybrid Bulldozer Goes On Sale
December 29, 2009 | 4 Comments
With a little fanfare Caterpillar announced last week they’re shipping a diesel engine driven generation set to electric motor hybrid drive bulldozer. The D7E model is in the upper midsize range with the Cat C9.3 ACERT(TM) diesel engine rated at 235 net horsepower (175 kW) driving a powerful electrical generator that produces AC (alternating current). [...]
Sep
30
Building a Cheaper Hybrid Car
September 30, 2009 | 2 Comments
Hanna Plesko, a doctoral student at the Power Electronic Systems Laboratory of ETH Zurich has worked out a better and less costly to produce power electronic converters for hybrid cars. Plesko says, “It’s rumored that hybrid vehicles can improve your image, but in some cases the automobile companies have difficulties to cover their costs.” With [...]
Sep
25
The Super Sexy Swedish Electric Stunner
September 25, 2009 | 1 Comment
Perhaps you remember when Volvos looked like they were carved from wood by an axe while other manufacturers were going windswept and aerodynamic. Then they finally switched to svelte a decade or so back and improved on that while others have moved on to muscular, angular and blocklike. One wonders who is leading whom. Volvo [...]
Sep
16
A New High Efficiency Vehicle Electric Motor
September 16, 2009 | 3 Comments
Oxford University in the UK has spun-out a new company, Oxford Yasa Motors, set up to commercialize a lightweight energy efficient electric motor developed at the Department of Engineering Science. The new technology promises to help firms build more efficient electric vehicles. Astute readers will realize that power to weight and the size issues of [...]
Sep
15
The Automotive Generator Set Competition Starts Here
September 15, 2009 | 2 Comments
Lotus Engineering, a division of Lotus, one of the world’s renowned automotive consultants unveiled its Range Extender Engine at the 63rd Frankfurt International Motor Show. Used in series hybrid vehicles, Range Extender Engines are coupled to an electrical generator to provide a highly efficient source of energy to power the electric motor directly or charge [...]
Aug
21
Simulating Carbon Ultracapacitor Performance in Cars
August 21, 2009 | 1 Comment
With the bulk of the energy issues centered on transport fuels sourced from oil, excepting the pollution and CO2 matter that coal offers, the pressure has mounted on the major oil use – worldwide personal transport vehicles, the dream realized by many and desired by many many more. When someone critically views the impacts that [...]
