All About Alternate Fuel Vehicles (AFV)

December 11, 2007
Source: DesignNews.com
http://www.designnews.com/blog/460000246/post/470018647.html

In January 2007, a member of our Design News staff claimed responsibility for a murder; see “I Killed the Electric Car” by Chuck Murray. Chuck’s article presented simple calculations to illustrate that for standard American drivers, conventional electric cars make no sense due to long charge time and low mileage-per-charge. Nonetheless, Chuck elicited some angry reader feedback including a post, “What about the Chevy Volt, Chuck!?”, by our Editor-In-Chief, John Dodge, who apparently likes to wait 6 hours every time he needs to fuel his car.
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Miles Electric was one of two vehicle companies invited to attend and showcase their alternative fuel vehicles at the GreenXchange Global Marketplace Conference in Los Angeles December 10-11, 2007. The GreenXchange Global Marketplace Conference aims to facilitate and accelerate the diffusion of sustainable, green technology on a global scale.

Los Angeles, CA, December 13, 2007
Source:Miles Electric Vehicles milesev.com /press release /eMediaWire
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/12/emw576116.htm
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Santa Rosa, CA, Dec 7, 2007
Source: ZAP.com news
http://www.zapworld.com/node/280

By special invitation, advanced transportation pioneer ZAP (OTC BB:ZAAP.OB - News) met in California this week with a delegation of 46 experts in the electric car and related fields from throughout China.  The Chinese electric vehicle (EV) delegation is composed of officials, experts and entrepreneurs engaged in electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicle and related component developments, including motors, batteries, power electronics, and energy management.
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London, UK  November 20, 2007
Source: ZAP.com news
http://www.zapworld.com/node/205

A new four-dour electric car design from ZAP (OTC BB:ZAAP.OB - News) called the Xebra® has passed Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) inspection, allowing it to be driven on roads in the United Kingdom.  Electric car pioneer ZAP announced that the 100 percent electric Xebra sedan passed Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) inspection, allowing the car to be driven on roads in the United Kingdom.
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Danish Electric Car Scientists Extend Range of ZAP Xebra to 152 Miles With New Battery Management Technology. Lithium Balance Develops Battery Management Technology for ZAP
Copenhagen, Denmark, Dec 10, 2007
Source: ZAP.com press release/MarketWire
http://www.zapworld.com/node/281

Electric car scientists at Lithium Balance in Copenhagen and ZAP (OTC BB:ZAAP.OB) of California announced results of their latest tests of a new battery management system for lithium batteries, reporting that the Xebra pickup traveled 152 miles on a single charge.
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By Chuck Squatriglia, Dec. 11, 2007
Source: TheWired.com
http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/news/2007/12/eflex

General Motors has launched what it calls the auto industry’s first design studio focused exclusively on electric plug-in vehicles. Its first order of business is getting the Chevrolet Volt on the road by 2010.  The E-Flex Design Studio will employ 45 designers, engineers and scientists to develop vehicles featuring plug-in hybrid technology.  The ambitious program offers the strongest evidence yet that the world’s largest automaker is serious about its campaign to improve fuel efficiency, embrace hybrids and develop alternative-fuel vehicles. (more…)

GM is aiming to reclaim the lost mantle of automotive technology leadership from foreign auto makers
by Jeremy Cato,  Los Angeles, CA, December 13, 2007
Source: Globe and Mail
http://www.globeauto.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071212.wh-GMmain-1213/
GAStory/specialGlobeAuto/home

Byron McCormick — slightly balding and with glasses — looks just like your grandfather. This seems reasonable enough because he is a grandfather. And those grandkids have made him a true believer.  “I didn’t think about it with my kids and they’re grown up now. But I look at my grandchildren and I think to myself, the decisions we make today are going to directly affect them when they’re my age, say in 2050. We have to do this, to make these changes,” McCormick says over lunch at Electric Drive University.
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By Gwen Bristol, Bismarck Tribune / Dec. 16, 2007
Source: Bismarck Tribune
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/12/16/news/
business/doc4764bb066e85d917392135.txt

From the outside, Basin Electric Cooperative’s plug-in hybrid vehicle looks about like any other Ford Escape. A short cord extending from the rear bumper and the PLUG-1-IN license plate are the only indicators that this car is something special.  Chris VandeVenter, legislative representative for Basin Electric, said the vehicle was converted from a conventional hybrid to a plug-in hybrid with a rechargeable battery at the end of October.
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Los Angeles, November 15th, 2007
http://www.autospectator.com/cars/mercedes-benz/
0034927-mercedes-benz-unveils-diesel-hybrid-concept-la-show

Mercedes-Benz is holding the North American debut of a bold new powertrain at the Los Angeles Auto Show, open to the public November 16-23, 2007 at the L.A. Convention Center. The new S400 BLUETEC HYBRID combines both clean diesel and hybrid technologies by using the latest BLUETEC diesel instead of the gasoline engine that usually helps power a hybrid.  Since hybrids use a conventional engine in concert with an electric motor, it’s not surprising that a state-of-the-art hybrid is making use of the world’s most fuel-efficient piston engine – the diesel. In its latest form, the exhaust emissions from the Mercedes-Benz BLUETEC diesel are as clean as a modern gasoline engine.
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By Dee-Ann Durbin, BusinessWeek,
Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 14, 2007
Source: BusinessWeek.com
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8STQLN80.htm

Honda Motor Co. said Wednesday it will begin leasing its new FCX Clarity hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered car to a limited number of Southern California drivers this summer. Honda wouldn’t say how many vehicles will be leased. The company plans to offer a three-year lease with a $600 monthly payment. The low-slung, FCX Clarity sedan was unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show.  Honda also is developing a home fueling station that uses a home’s existing natural gas supply to produce hydrogen. The automaker now has such a fueling station on its research and design campus in Torrance.
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