All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

by Justin Couture, January 4, 2008
Source: Automobile.com
http://car-reviews.automobile.com/news/
subaru-s-electric-car-on-sale-next-year/5379/

In many ways, mass volume electric cars are closer to reality than many people might  Subaru will be selling the R1e through its Japanese retail vendors starting next year.  Although the Chevrolet Volt is still years away (although more of a reverse hybrid than a true EV) and another EV candidate, the Pininfarina-Bollaré isn’t expected until 2010, Tesla has been producing and selling a full electric vehicle for some time now, and other more mainstream automakers are working full steam ahead to produce pure electric cars before the end of the decade.
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Does your garage have an electrical outlet? Seattle-area companies, governments, and early adopters are at the forefront of driving down the cost of electrified autos. Later this year, you’ll be able to modify your gas Prius for less than $10,000.

By Carolyn McConnell, Washington, Seattle, Jan 9, 2008
Source: Crosscut.com
http://www.crosscut.com/washington/10569/Here+come+the+plug-in+hybrid-electric+cars/

Driving a Prius can be a tantalizing experience: You’ve got the engine warmed up, you’re going 30 mph on flat ground, the motor is a nearly silent electric purr, and you watch the bars on the gas-mileage screen mount happily up to 99.9 — infinity! Then you hit a hill, have to step on the gas, and those bars plunge into the teens. You might as well be driving a Hummer.
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Source: Transport News and Network TNN /Jan 8, 2008
http://www.tnn.co.uk/Manufacturers/plonearticle.2008-01-08.8552537136

The world’s leading commercial electric vehicle manufacturer has secured an order for 100 zero emission vans and trucks for the Republic of Ireland.  Smith Electric Vehicles will deliver 100 of its leading edge Newton and Edison vehicles, in its largest fleet order to date. Replacing 100 diesel powered commercial vehicles with these battery powered vans and trucks will save an estimated 760,000kg in carbon dioxide exhaust emissions each year.
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Tyler Hamilton, Energy Reporter
Source:; Toronto Star /Jan 7, 2008
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/291514

Matthew Stevens and Christopher Mendes began working with each other in 2004, part of a University of Waterloo team trying to design the vehicle of the future.  Their team, in fact, was the only Canadian one in a 17-university North American competition sponsored by General Motors and the U.S. Department of Energy. Called Challenge X, the three-year competition pitted some of the brightest young minds on the continent against each other in a search for the most energy-efficient vehicle design.
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Toshiba promises ‘energy solution’ with nearly full recharge in 5 minutes
Tokyo, Associated Press, Dec. 13, 2007
Source. MSNBC News
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22240865/

A new battery that can be recharged to 90 percent capacity in under five minutes and lasts 10 years will start shipping in March, Toshiba Corp. announced this week, hailing it as “a new energy solution” for cleaner transportation.  Toshiba plans to initially make the quick-charging Super Charge ion Battery for electric bikes, forklifts, construction machinery and other industrial use. It can work in temperatures as low as minus 22 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Danbury, CT, Nov 29,2007
Source: Electro Energy Inc. press release
http://ir.electroenergyinc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=279120

Electro Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: EEEI), a leading provider of advanced battery technologies and associated systems, announced today their participation and sponsorship in EVS-23: Sustainability — The Future of Transportation: 23rd Electric Vehicle Symposium being held at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California December 2-5, 2007.
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December 03, 2007
Source: Infineon Technologies AG press release/Marketwire
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/marketwire/0334935.htm

At the 23rd Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS 23) this week, Infineon Technologies AG (FRANKFURT: IFX) (NYSE: IFX) is showing innovative power electronics technologies that reduce the size and weight of the motor drive systems of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). Infineon semiconductor components and HybridPACK power modules, which have been selected for use in new HEVs by manufacturers around the world, are shown in a demonstrator electric cart and in static displays in the company’s booth (#673). (more…)

Ener1 first to Integrate Li-ion Battery in a Hybrid Electric Vehicle
Working Car on display at Anaheim Exhibition
Ft. Lauderdale, FL - December 3, 2007
Source: Ener1, Inc. press release
http://www.ener1.com/pr.html

Ener1, Inc. (OTCBB: ENEI), an alternative energy company, has become the first to successfully integrate a lithium-ion battery into an operating hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), an important milestone for the electric vehicle industry.  The company’s automotive battery division, Indianapolis-based EnerDel, will exhibit its unique high-powered lithium-ion battery pack in an operating HEV at the International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exposition (EVS-23) in Anaheim, California Dec. 2-4.
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With a few extra bucks, a hybrid Toyota becomes an even better gas sipper.
Melissa Patterson, Special To The Orlando Sentinel
Source: Orlando Sentinel, December 13, 2007
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/education/
orl-ucfcar1307dec13,0,810672.story

Stacey Radnor cruised the University of Central Florida recently, her custom Toyota Prius looking just as sleek and modern as the souped-up Honda Civics and new Scions passing by.  The hatchback was missing the choking exhaust fumes, however. And the hefty gas bills — those were gone too.  One of the first plug-in electric hybrids in Florida, the car helps Radnor and the rest of UCF’s Energy Team get around, while making a statement.
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By Candace Page, Free Press Staff Writer, December 12, 2007
Source: Burlington Free Press.com
http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20071212/NEWS02/712120324/1007

Vermont’s electricity system can handle the plug-in hybrid automobile revolution — good news for drivers waiting for climate-friendly, cheaper-to-fuel cars, a research team said Tuesday.  Now all that’s needed is the cars themselves. And if drivers are looking for a Ford, the wait could be a long one, a Ford Motor Co. executive told a University of Vermont conference on plug-in hybrids.
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