updated 12-26-2015

Energy Efficient Vehicles

WOW Electric Cars !

 

First formula-e race, Bejing, China

First formula-e racing motor: the 200kW 270 horsepower electric motor will launch the car from 0 – 100 km/h (0-62mph) in approximately 3 seconds

 

Tesla Roadster

100% electric, can go 250 miles on a charge,
weighs about 2500 lbs, and goes 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds.
12-26-2014, Tesla Announces Roadster 3.0 Upgrade:
From 53 to 70 kWh Battery and New Aero Kit

“The torque (acceleration) is unbelievable! And eerie. The power just comes on right now and does not abate. It’s absolutely batty; unlike anything we’ve experienced. We think our kidneys may still be embedded in the seatback. And it sticks.”
“The Tesla electric car’s really been the only plug-in sled we’ve so far been able to love.”

I’m breaking every speed limit in the county ** it explodes off the line ** like a small jet plane ** all of the power is available instantly ** such instantaneous potential to tear a hole in traffic ** this is the world’s fastest car. It’s like driving a Lamborghini with a big V-12 revved over 6000 rpm at all times, waiting to pounce – without the noise, vibration, or misdemeanor arrest for disturbing the peace ** Every other car on the road suddenly seems so old tech

learn more: TESLA Roadster

 

April 9, 2009
Cars like the million dollar Porsche Carrera GT and Ferrari Enzo are rightly considered supercars with their lightweight carbon fiber construction and 650 hp (477 kw) thoroughbred mid mounted engines making them capable of 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds. The amazing thing is that electric vehicles like the 250 hp (183 kw) Tesla Roadster, which produce 100% instant torque from zero rpm, can accelerate to 60 mph in the exact same time, and at costs as low as $0.02 per mile.

The two aforementioned supercars are officially rated at around 12 mpg (19.6L/100km) in city driving, depending on your local fuel price, meaning it could cost as much as $40 in fuel to drive 100km. An EV with similar performance will travel the same distance on just $1.20 worth of electricity ($0.60 if charged over night at off-peak rates). That’s not just a slight improvement, that’s a huge leap forward.

A senior insider told Autocar that Jaguar Land Rover envisages some of the world’s most important cities gradually introducing zero-emissions and zero-pollution zones. All vehicles unable to run purely on batteries would be banned from the area.
www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/all-electric-jaguar-xj-created

The absolute fastest EV’s in the world are 1.) the Buckeye Bullet holding the World Record For Fastest Electric Car; hitting a peak speed of 320 miles per hour – – and for acceleration, 2.) Killacycle, a purpose built electric drag bike with 500 hp which current holds the record at 7.89 @ 168 mph for the quarter mile and 3.) Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat 37, a rail type dragster with a best time of 7.258 @ 184 mph. The Electric Bluebird is attemmpting to break the Buckeye Bullet record by approaching 500 mph.

 

 

History:
The tzero was built by Al Cocconi, one of the original engineers of the prototype for GM’s EV-1. His tzero only got 60 mi on a charge and 0-60 in 4.1 sec’s. till Martin Eberhard (before creating Tesla Motors) offered a $150,000 investment to switch the lead-acid batteries out for lithium ion. The lighter batteries worked. The souped-up tzero accelerated from 0 to 60 in 3.6 seconds and had a range of more than 300 miles. Eberhard had found his supercar. He persuaded AC Propulsion to build him one and tried to convince Cocconi that he should put the tzero into production. But Cocconi had no interest in building a car company. – So, Eberhard continued on his path that led to Tesla Motors.

July 2008: Global Peak Oil Production; 87.9 million barrels a day.

August 2, 2008: Exxon Mobil Profits Soar to Highest Levels Ever, but “Production Falters”. [ Exxon cannot meet the demand – despite the rising demand Exxon could not even maintain their level of production. It started falling – another sign of “peak oil” hitting and starting the planet on its downward slope-spiral. ]

August 22, 2008: “businesses cutting jobs due to higher energy costs” ( gasoline around $4 / gal! ) “Companies likely will increase layoffs in the next several months as profits continue to suffer from higher food and higher gasoline prices”

September 13, 2008: No gas at Nashville, Tenn. gas stations. Because of Hurricane Ike, if you could get it in Arkansas, “it jumped from $3.70 to $5.20 and more overnight,”

September 30th, 2008: “No Gas in North Carolina; Gas Stations Closed”

October 25, 2008: OPEC announced a huge production cut
in an attempt to halt the decline in oil prices [ now, 6-09, reduced by 3 million barrels / day ]

June 24, 2009: Oil Prices: Stifling an Economic Recovery
“Last week the British Prime Minister ordered his cabinet to start working on
emergency plans to prevent rising oil prices from destroying an economic recovery.”

Jan. 2014:
Notice that the price of gas, in the US, hovered around or below $3.50 / gal.
The oil co.s, on their own, kept their prices down so as to not cause another recession – costing jobs and cutting demand for, too expensive, fuel. (and probably kept their prices down in other countries similarly)

07-04-2013
Public Charge points that don’t charge (to fill up)
It’s kind of amazing how many organizations are interested in giving away free fuel. The Kohl’s clothing store across the street from my favorite Starbucks apparently wants EV owners to shop there instead of the Target and Old Navy down the street. The Walgreen’s next to my gym evidently would like me to think of them when I need sundry items or a prescription filled. The city of San Francisco is promoting zero carbon EVs powered by its local Hetch Hetchy hydroelectric power plant by offering over a dozen free charging points throughout the city. The greenies over at National Parks Conservation Association would also like to encourage EV use and sponsored a free charging station at Crissy Field in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The installation was placed by Adopt-a-Charger, a nonprofit organization that “accelerates the widespread adoption of plug-in vehicles through the proliferation of public, fee-free electric car chargers which are ‘adopted’ by sponsors.” They also have set up a free charge point at the Music Concourse in Golden Gate Park. Tesla is establishing a nationwide network of fast charging stations that are free to Tesla owners.

www.electric-car-insider.com/free-fuel-public-charge-points-that-dont-charge.php

 

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10 Quickest Electric Cars in the World November 28, 2014
10. Tesla Roadster Sport
9. Detroit Electric SP:01
8. Renovo Coupe
7. Tesla Model S P85D
6. Drayson Racing B12/69
5. Spark-Renault SRT_01E
4. Wrightspeed X1
3. Rimac Concept One
2. PlasmaBoy Racing White Zombie
1. The Grimsel

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05-06-2014

ELECTRIC DRAGSTER HITS A RECORD 184 MPH
IN THE QUARTER MILE

7.258 sec’s. @ 184.01 mph

The Swamp Rat 37

“BIG DADDY” DON Garlits was the first man to break 200 mph in a dragster. Five decades later, he hopes to do it again–in an electric dragster.

Don Garlits is synonymous with drag racing, having made his first run in 1950 and scoring his first major win five years later. He is a legend, with 17 championships to his name and a book full of records. He was the first to hit several speed milestones, including 150, 180, 200 and 250 mph. His run for 200 mph under electric power comes 50 years after he hit that benchmark in a gas-burning dragster.

Garlits, who is 82, tripped the lights at 184.01 mph with an elapsed time of 7.258 seconds. That was well short of the 200 mph benchmark he’d hoped to set, but he still obliterated the previous record by 24.16 mph.
In April 2014, at the same drag strip, he set a record of going one quarter mile at 185.6 mph in 7.274 seconds.

“Conceived as a day of private testing, the event became one for the history books. It was also a day of significant progress and great learning for the team.

Garlits, often called the father of drag racing, hopes to set that benchmark this week. He isn’t the first guy to bring batteries to the drag strip, but if he achieves his goal, it will shatter the existing benchmark by more than 41 mph.

He’ll make the attempt at the wheel of Swamp Rat 37. It features a lithium-polymer battery made of four packs, two on each side of the car. Each pack holds 300 lithium polymer cells for a total of 1,200 cells, producing a maximum of 420V with a current of 3,600 amps. That rig provides juice to six 7.5-inch series-wound DC motors from GE. The whole setup produces produce 1,500 kilowatts — that’s just a bit more than 2,000 horsepower. That kind of power is nothing in a world where top fuel dragsters puts down 8,000 horsepower or so and kiss 325 mph, but it’s still an impressive figure. The chassis, built by renowned builder Brad Hadman, is made of 4130 chromoly tubing. It’s got a 265-inch wheelbase and an aluminum alloy body.

 

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World’s Quickest & Fastest
‘Street Legal Electric Car’
John Wayland’s White Zombie

 

The Grimsel

 

BMW i8, 2014

Concept One, by Mate Rimac, 2011-2013 : all electric

 

The Nissan Leaf

 

Mitsubishi i-MiEV

 

Chevy Volt

 

2014 Ford Focus Electric (BEV)

 

2014 Ford C-Max-Energi

 

Fisker Karma (sold to a Chinese co.)

 

VIA Motors

 

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Smith Electric

All-Electric Vehicles

Smith Electric’s customers include many of the world’s largest fleet operators, including PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay division, Staples, TNT, Sainsbury’s, Coca-Cola, DHL, FedEx and the U.S. Military.
Smith currently designs, produces and sells two vehicle platforms, the Smith Newton and the Smith Edison, both of which can be configured for multiple applications. They are headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri and have manufacturing facilities in Kansas City, Missouri, New York City, New York, and outside of Newcastle, UK.

 

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Electric Buses

 

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Wrightspeed X-1

 

LIGHTNING

“best looking electric car”

 

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Electric Charging Stations

 

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The Buckeye Bullet

 

LHD-class amphibious assault ship USS Makin Island

US Navy hybrid-electric ship

 

Emerald Ace

hybrid-electric ship

 

Mercedes-AMG

fastest electric boat

 

hybrid-electric catamaran

 

2015 high-end electric motorcycles

Zero made significant upgrades to its entire lineup, the Harley-Davidson Livewire concept was unveiled and toured around the country, and Brammo updated its flagship Empulse.
Some of the higher-end bikes–among them the Energica Ego, Lightning LS 218, Lito Sora, and Agility Saietta–have been seen at test drives and a few are even in owners’ hands now.
Interest in electric motorcycles spiked last summer when Harley-Davidson announced its Livewire tour, during which it brought 40 concept electric bikes around the U.S. to gather market impressions and get a lot of people to take a test ride.

also see www.ZeroMotorcycles.com/motorcycles/

January 19, 2015

2015 – 7 Electric Motorcycles Boasting Top Speeds

Electric motorcycles offer bikers the chance to get your kicks without any of the oil-burning that comes with a traditional bike. Maybe you have an eco-friendly approach to living, or maybe you just don’t like the idea of a Middle Eastern regime (or Big Oil executive) cashing in when there’s an alternative.

Surveying the electric bikes in production in 2015, the alternatives to gasoline power range from exciting to wildly thrilling. Depending on your price range and heart condition, you can find two-wheelers that equal (or surpass) the fastest bikes on the market without spewing black smoke from the tailpipe. Here are the seven electric motorcycles that feature the highest top speeds of any green bikes in production.

7. Zero SR
6. Brammo Empulse R
5. Brutus V9
4. Lito Sora
3. Energica EGO
2. Mission R
1. Lightning LS-218

 

How The Oil Co’s First Took Over
A.K.A. The Oil Age That Never Should Have Been

The Model T Ford ran … “on moonshine, hemp gasoline, kerosene, ethanol, diesel fuel — about anything you can put a match to. And, whatever it runs on, it would pass today’s very strict emission standards, because it burns the complete charge in the combustion.” In 1925, Henry Ford told the New York Times that “The fuel of the future is going to come from fruit like that sumac out by the road, or from apples, weeds, sawdust – almost anything. There is fuel in every bit of vegetable matter that can be fermented. There’s enough alcohol in one year’s yield of an acre of potatoes to drive the machinery necessary to cultivate the fields for a hundred years.”

Henry Ford’s first Model-T was built to run on hemp gasoline and the CAR ITSELF WAS CONSTRUCTED FROM HEMP! On his large estate, Ford was photographed among his hemp fields. The car, ‘grown from the soil,’ had resin stiffened hemp panels whose impact strength was 10 times stronger than steel; Popular Mechanics, 1941.

Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine, designed it to run on vegetable and seed oils; he actually ran the thing on peanut oil for the 1900 World’s Fair.

cellulose and crop based ethyl alcohol had been known as a fuel for many decades. Indeed, when Henry Ford designed the Model T, it was his expectation that ethanol, made from renewable biological materials, would be a major automobile fuel. However, gasoline emerged as the dominant transportation fuel in the early twentieth century because of the ease of operation of gasoline engines with the materials then available for engine construction, a growing supply of cheaper petroleum from oil field discoveries, and intense lobbying by petroleum companies for the federal government to maintain steep alcohol taxes. Many bills proposing a National energy program that made use of Americas vast agricultural resources (for fuel production) were killed by smear campaigns launched by vested petroleum interests. One noteworthy claim put forth by petrol companies was that the U.S. government’s plans “robbed taxpayers to make farmers rich”.

Big oil killed big agriculture’s bid for our gas tanks. Despite the fact that …
“Gasoline had (and still has) many disadvantages as an automotive resource. The ‘new’ fuel had a lower octane rating than ethanol, was much more toxic (particularly when blended with tetra-ethyl lead and other compounds to enhance octane), generally more dangerous, and contained threatening air pollutants. Petroleum was more likely to explode and burn accidentally, gum would form on storage surfaces and carbon deposits would form in combustion chambers of engines.” So this fuel is less efficient, dirtier, and more dangerous.”

 

TESLA: Man Out of Time

by Margaret Cheney

“there had been no truly successful AC motor until Tesla invented his – an induction motor that was the heart of a new system and a quantum jump ahead of the times” pg. 23

He did not just invent one simple AC motor. He “conceived of such practical alternating-current motors as polyphase induction, split-phase induction, and polyphase synchronous, as well as the whole polyphase and single-phase motor system … indeed, “practically all electricity in the world, in time, would be generated, transmitted, distributed, and turned into mechanical power by means of the Tesla Polyphase System.” pg. 24

“Because his motors required 60 cycle AC, that became the standard in the U.S. pg.41

He demonstrated “a motor that ran on only one wire,
the return circuit occurring wirelessly through space. … he spoke of the possibility of running motors without any wires at all.” pg. 54

He built “high powered switches and spark gap switches” of kinds that even today “the knowledge has been lost; we don’t know how he did it.” pg. 282

“Falmboyant, eccentric, almost supernaturally gifted … perhaps the greatest inventor the world has ever known …He was a trailblazer who created astonishing, world-transforming devices, often without theoretical precedent.” — outside back cover

a list of many of Tesla’s Lost Inventions

 

A motor run solely by magnets was originally suggested by Nikola Tesla in 1905.

“ Engineers of Hitachi Magnetics Corp. of California have stated that a motor run solely by magnets is feasible and logical but the politics of the matter make it impossible for them to pursue developing a magnet motor or any device that would compete with the energy cartels.

Radiant (Dark) Energy (1): Unraveling Tesla’s Greatest Secret

Tesla’s electric car a 1931 Pierce Arrow

 

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They learned to put the ele. motors in the wheels 100 years ago

Designed by founder Ferdinand Porsche. This is the predecessor of what Porsche Cars claims was the world’s first hybrid car, which followed this one by just a few years.

Even Porsche’s initial all-electric design was revolutionary, despite the fact that electric cars were fairly common (insofar as any automobile was common) at the turn of the last century. Porsche’s electric car was named “most innovative invention” at the Paris World’s fair in 1900, notoriety that resulted in the sale of over 300 of the cars.

Ferdinand Porsche’s first great fascination as an engineer wasn’t with automobiles but electricity. As a youngster, he experimented secretly at home with electricity, and his first engineering job was with an Austrian company that made electrical equipment.

It was there that he was asked to engineer an electric motor that had been requested by Austria’s royal carriage manufacturer, Jacob Lohner & Co. The electric motors were to be housed within the carriage’s wheels.

After he completed the motor design in 1898, Porsche was hired by Lohner to work on the carriage that would run on the motors.

With an electric motor in each front wheel, the car had a top speed of about 31 miles per hour. Versions of this car won several races, often with Porsche himself at the wheel.

One racing version, created in 1900 and capable of a top speed of 37 miles per hour, had electric motors in all four wheels, allowing Porsche Cars to claim that its founder created the first all-wheel-drive vehicle.

What made Porsche’s electric car so revolutionary was the manufacturing simplicity and energy efficiency engendered by placing the motors directly at the wheel hubs.

With no transmission or cables of any sort needed to carry energy from the motors to the wheels, 83 percent of the energy used by the car actually went to move the car. That compares to less than 40 percent for modern internal combustion engines.

Despite that, Porsche’s electric car design was severely limited by the available battery technology. Batteries couldn’t hold enough electricity for long trips, and they wore out quickly. Adding more power and range meant adding lots more weight.

Battery power also made the cars quite expensive. Typical buyers were wealthy industrialists like Emil Jellenik, the Daimler Motor Co. investor who demanded that that company name its cars after his daughter, Mercedes.

Hybrid power
Porsche’s answer was to generate electricity on-board as the vehicle drove. By 1901, he added a gasoline internal combustion engine to one of his all-wheel-drive electric race cars creating, essentially, the world’s first hybrid car.

Unlike most hybrid cars today, the Lohner-Porsche Mixte’s gas engine never powered the wheels directly. It was only used to generate power for the car’s electric motors. In that way, it’s more similar to something like General Motor’s Chevrolet Volt concept vehicle. One big difference is that the Lehner-Porsche was, ultimately, powered by gasoline alone. It couldn’t be plugged in for extra charging.

All five hybrid cars produced in 1901, equipped with Mercedes-Benz engines, were bought by Emil Jellinek. With further development, the Porsche-Lohner hybrids reached top speeds of 56 miles per hour.

As far as today’s Porsche is concerned, the company is searching for ways to adapt to stricter fuel economy rules expected to come soon to the United States and Europe.