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Flying Car Poses Interesting Insurance Issues
Insurance Networking News published an interesting article about the Terrafugia Transition flying car that looks at the insurance issues of underwriting a vehicle that both drives on the road and flies. The photo above is one of many available on Terrafugia web site showing the Transition in flight. According to the article...
The company said the Transition completed its historic first flight on March 5, 2009 with 27 additional flights completed over the next several weeks. They added that successful completion of flight-testing with the proof of concept concludes the first stage of a four stage-process to bring the Transition into production. Work is underway on Stage 2, the Beta Prototype. First delivery is expected in 2011.
While the Transition is conventionally fueled by gasoline, it does offer 30 mpg fuel efficiency on the ground.
SOURCE: INSURANCE NETWORKING NEWS
POST NO. 921 DATED: 03 Jul 2009
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Argonne Report: PHEVs Make Most 'Cents' When Commute Under 30 Miles
An Argonne Labs research paper presented at the 2009 Advanced Automotive Battery Conference examined the real world driving cycles of various plug-in electric vehicle configurations for their cost effectiveness. Writing in Green Car Congress, Aymeric Rousseau summarized Argonne's findings:
Cost benefit analysis. Based on the results, Argonne also modeled out the cost-benefit of the different configurations. Some of those findings included: Assuming an electrical cost of $0.09/kWh and a fuel cost of $4/gallon, the HEV breaks even at 7.5 years, while the PHEVs range from 8 to 12.5 years.
A longer daily drive distance can significantly reduce payback time. Based on the assumption considered, one should drive at least 30 miles per day to have an acceptable payback (4-6 yeas for small energy batteries and 6-8 years for larger battery energies).
HEVs are more cost-effective than the split 4 kWh for driving longer than 30 miles, but the order is reversed for shorter distances.
When driving long distances (> 40 miles), both series configurations achieve similar payback since the additional battery cost is offset by fuel efficiency benefits.
Compared to the HEV powertrain, payback is close to 8 years for low energy batteries and 11 years for larger batteries. An increase in fuel price from $4 to $5/gallon decreases the payback time by one year on average
What isn't clear from Rousseau's report is which PHEV's were used, whose conversions were installed, and were those plug-in hybrids capable of EV-only mode operation at highway speeds? As demonstrated by Plugin Conversions Corporation's newly developed modification, the above analysis might need to be reviewed.
POST NO. 920 DATED: 03 Jul 2009
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Rumored: Better Place Courting Fiat-Chrysler
Based on a story in Israel's Globes newspaper, Wired's Autopia blog reports that Better Place Chairman Idan Ofer -- and presumably other senior executives -- have been talking with one of Fiat's heirs about adapting Chrysler's ENVI electric cars to utilize quick-change battery swapping technology developed by the Nissan Renault Alliance.
While the Globes story is viewable only by registered subscribers, EV World was afforded a copy of the story, which we've abridged for brevity's sake.
Better Place and its battery swap plans have been noticeably absent from most [Nissan Renault Alliance's charging infrastructure] announcements. Aside from the recent video demonstration of a battery exchange, no other automaker has expressed interest in the concept.
Better Place is apparently now talking with Fiat since its link up with Chrysler. Chrysler is in the advanced stages of development of several electric vehicles and Better Place would apparently like to sign them up. However, Lou Rhodes, the president of ENVI, the group within Chrysler developing the electric vehicles does not see battery exchange as viable in the near term, because battery technology is still changing too quickly to standardize anything.
Better Place may want to focus on just building networks of public charging stations and shelve the exchange stations for now until battery technology does stabilize.
SOURCE: GLOBES
POST NO. 919 DATED: 03 Jul 2009
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Q2 Green Tech Investments Increased 12%
The Cleantech Group reports the following:
Global cleantech investments totalled $1.2 billion across 94 companies, a 12 percent increase over the first quarter. The increase was driven by interest in alternative vehicles, which grabbed $236 million, and advanced batteries, which received $165 million.
Relevant to our EV World, A123 Systems Inc. landed a $100 million investment round led by General Electric Co. in April.
SOURCE: BOSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
POST NO. 918 DATED: 02 Jul 2009
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NYISO Reviews Impact of Electric Vehicles on Grid
The New York Independent System Operators have issued a 17-page review of the potential impact plug-in hybrid vehicles will have on the state's power grid. In the report they note...
Charging PHEVs during the off-peak hours when there is surplus generation capacity could significantly mitigate their impact on electric utility infrastructure requirements. Indeed, the magnitude of the economic, energy, and environmental savings available from PHEVs will be dependent upon when and how the PHEVs are recharged.
SOURCE: Alternate Route: Electrifying the Transportation Sector
POST NO. 917 DATED: 01 Jul 2009
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