March 9, 2010

The decision was apparently made in late January, but news is just getting out now that GM management has elected to cancel their plug-in hybrid project within the Cadillac division, based on the Volt technology platform. The decision was made on economic grounds - the same reasoning GM used to kill the EV-1 battery electric and previous hybrid technology projects. (GM execs were widely quoted around 2000 as saying that the Toyota and Honda hybrids were money losers and would drive those firms into bankruptcy. Yet, if I recall correctly, it was GM that required government bailouts to survive last year.)

The argument that the Cadelectric would be too heavy to perform well smells off to me. With an extra $30,000 per unit to play with, I'm sure real automotive engineers would have found a way to lighten the vehicle - say with carbon fibre shell parts, aluminum structural members, etc., to resolve that issue.

If GM stays true to its history, it still has time to kill the already much-delayed Volt, likely by many small measures. Holding out the possibility of real production for as long as possible will keep the competitors out the market longer, as investors will be skittish about going head-to-head with a government-financed venture with the resources of GM behind it.

Still, if the Volt does get short-circuited, there may be many orphaned LiFePO4 batteries looking for homes come early 2011. Of course, GM may also choose to simply use our tax dollars to eat the cost of scrapping everything related to the Volt. They did not hesitate to shred everything associated with the EV-1.

March 3, 2010

I'm pleased to announce the resurrection of Dale's Web pages dedicated to the transformation of his CitiCar. (now hosted here) Check it out.

February 25, 2010

I guess if you want free advertising on my Web site, this is the way to get it. It was nice to finally see one of these in real life. Coca Cola announced the vehicles late last year. Kenworth (the manufacturer) says the vehicles save 30% on fuel costs in urban operations.

Coca Cola also uses full-electric small trucks in places like Uruguay, but apparently has no plans to bring real EVs into use in Canada. Pity.

Save fuel - save money - save the environment. If a company as financially hard-nosed as Coca Cola can figure out it makes sense, why are so many others seemingly so mired in the hydrocarbon trap?

February 10, 2010

As the only major North American automaker with an electric truck platform, they have to be seen as the front-runner for the contract to start converting the U.S. postal service to electric power - a huge contract that is on the table in coming months. Basing the AZD conversion work has to be a plus on that front as well.
Electric 2011 Ford Transit Connect Unveiled at 2010 Chicago Auto Show

February 9, 2010

As one who has been driving electric for over 30 years, I have long wished we could just put people into full-function electric cars for a day so they can actually experience it, and really get what they're about at a visceral level, not just as an esoteric theoretical "good thing to do". Tyler drove one for a day, and now he really gets it.
Zero-emission Tesla always draws a crowd

February 6, 2010

Fred Green's Obituary in the Ottawa Citizen

January 28, 2010

Today, I had the pleasure of addressing the Friends of the CRC about the history of the electric car, and why it is poised to make a major comeback on our roads. They were kind enough to record the presentation, and provide me with a copy. If you would like to view it, you will need RealPlayer. The presentation, The Rise, Fall and Rise of the Electric Car runs about 50 minutes. I hope you enjoy it.

January 27, 2010

Tesla has announced the Tesla electric car is now approved for sale in Canada, and will establish their first Canadian dealership in Toronto in the spring of 2010.
Globe & Mail report on Tesla arrival in Canada

The Tesla Roadster is an all-electric car with a range of 244 miles (390 km) and a governed maximum speed of 125 mph (200 km/h). Come July 2010, it should qualify for Ontario provincial incentives, such as a purchase rebate, green plates, and use of HOV lanes even when the driver is alone in the vehicle.

Tesla Web Site

January 11, 2010

Whither ZENN for 2010? They have announced the end of production of ZENN LSV in the next few months. It appears that plans for a highway-capable EV have evaporated. The focus now appears to be EV drive trains based on the EESTOR technology. What's the outlook for EESTOR? This Autoblog Green article about EESTOR may well of interest.

December 31, 2009

So, the die-hard EV-deniers keep harping that EVs can't cut it in high-mileage applications. ElectriCab has developed a solution for an all-electric taxicab. With a combination of high-capacity on-board battery and fast charging stations, their electric minivan cab is getting the job done, travelling hundreds of miles a day.
MMD Newswire story on the ElectriCab

December 30, 2009

Almost a year after announcing the pilot project for LSVs in the province, the provincial government finally took deliver of a Nemo electric truck for its own fleet. Sadly, the acquisition comes after ZENN, the other producer eligible to supply vehicles under the pilot project, announced it will cease production of their vehicle before the end of April 2010, and long before the pilot project is scheduled to end. For a province that exports electricity and imports all its oil, it seems faint encouragement for an industry where the province could become a world leader.
Techstocks story on the Nemo delivery to the Quebec National Assembly

December 21, 2009

Bikes in the Fast Lane story on Chinese government reversing course on reclassification decision

December 14, 2009

Thomson Reuters article titled "Sparks fly as China quarrels over battery-powered bikes" says a green transportation group in Beijing is concerned about the lead-acid batteries in some e-bikes as an environmental issue. As if the motorcycles and cars that will take the place of the e-bikes in danger of being panned don't have lead-acid batteries in them for starting, lighting and ignition. And those gas-burners bring a host of other environmental issues with their expanded use, including more sprawl and traffic congestion. It also ignores that the lead in the batteries is sufficiently valuable to encourage recycling.

The rest of the world has largely standardized on 32 km/h (20 mph) as the acceptable electric assist maximum speed. Presumably the manufacturers only want to sell what they export within China as well. Keeping the official limit at 20 km/h (12 mph) will only force the small manufacturers to divide their resources over two model lines, one for each power rating. Given China is a large market, this could encourage those manufacturers to focus on the domestic market rather than models suitable for export, which could slow their acceptance in the rest of the world which has so much of its manufacturing done in China now.

December 11, 2009

ZENN, the producer of a passenger LSV in Quebec made it official: the plant in St. Jérôme will cease production of their line of low speed electric vehicles on April 30, 2010. Previous plans to introduce a highway-capable electric car have also been scrapped. The company will instead bet all its chips on the EEStor capacitor technology, and a drive train based on it, in hopes they can sell that to another player that can actually make the vehicles.

No word on what support will be provided to owners of the newly orphaned car line.

That leaves only Nemo as a supplier under the current Quebec pilot project, and they only build a truck; no cars in their line. That's going to make the value of the pilot project pretty questionable unless another passenger LSV is allowed to acquired under the project.

December 5, 2009

Let's hope the R4 retains much of the spirit of the concept vehicle, and sports a price that means it actually takes to the road, and not just the Audi museum.

Audi's Web page on the e-tron concept car

December 4, 2009

Unlike the major automakers, it's good to see that other vehicle makers see the right way to build a hybrid: an all-electric drive train with a small heat engine used only to extend range on those trips where the battery capacity is not sufficient.

December 1, 2009

The story that brings me back to this theme today comes from British Columbia, our scenic left coast and nominal home of Canada's preponderance of treehuggers.

In June of 2008, the B.C. government, which had previously legalized low speed electric vehicles (LSV), turned the rules upside down, and devolved the authority to allow LSVs (or not) to the municipalities. So, instead of using the established provincial regulatory infrastructure, LSV owners in B.C. now have to get permits from both the provincial and municipal governments in order to be able to drive their cars. To my knowledge, this need for two levels of permits for a vehicle class is unique in Canada. Clearly, the municipalities were not prepared for the hand-off, and many have fumbled the ball. For example, the article reports that on the North Shore of Vancouver, the current patchwork of regulations means that it is not legal to drive your LSV to the works yard where you have to go for the required inspection.

If that weren't confusing enough, the provincial government has confused LSVs with highway-capable EVs in some of their literature, and the province has introduced yet another term - Neighbourhood Zero Emissions Vehicle or NZEV - to describe the vehicles. They are usually called LSVs in most other Canadian jurisdictions and NEVs in most of the U.S.

In hopes that it will help some current and prospective LSV/NEV/NZEV owners in B.C., we continue to maintain our list of which municipalities have legalized these neighbourhood and climate change friendly vehicles. We're doing this because, having created this regulatory nightmare, the provincial government has declined to provide this valuable information to its constituents and taxpayers. (B.C. municipal officials: please feel free to provide us with updates.)

November 17, 2009

Last week, Chrysler walked away from its earlier commitment to deliver 3 different models of electric and electric-hybrid cars.

Today, there is a rumour that forward-looking EV darling Aptera is in trouble.

While GM continues to advertise their Volt plug-in hybrid prototype, the actual delivery date keeps sliding off into the future. Remember, when originally announced in 2006, it was supposed to be in showrooms by now. Most recent guess - late 2010 - in limited numbers. GM will yet find a reason not to deliver. The last time they were forced to deliver (1996), they started a blood war with the State of California that concluded with a concerted search and destroy mission to eradicate the EV-1 from existence. They got that concession in return for a promise to deliver hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to showrooms in quantity in 2008. Per usual with GM and environmental commitments, never happened. GM may have to change its colours due to government and UAW ownership, but green isn't one they will adopt willingly.

If you want a sense of how this is going to end, find a copy of The Lost Cord by Barbara Taylor.

Enthusiasts and small conversion companies have built literally thousands of on-road electric cars, trucks and motorcycles in North America in recent years. It's a viable option, and more likely to achieve results than continuing to wait automakers that have fought the technology tooth and nail for decades while pretending they'll deliver someday.

Air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, climate change, dependence on foreign oil; you can continue to wait and hope that someone else will solve the problem for you, or you can ACT!

I visited the trade show for the Plug-in and Hybrid Electric Vehicle conference (PHEV09) in Montreal yesterday, hosted by Electric Mobility Canada. [Disclosure: I am a member of EMC.]

The PHEV09 Trade Show at Complexe Desjardins (Montreal) 2009.09.30

Two things really struck me. The first was how few companies made an appearance here given the apparent level of interest in EVs in the world media and the Obama Administration. Perhaps this is a reflection of the total lack of interest, or even hostility, towards EVs being demonstrated by the Canadian federal government and most provinces, even those starting to talk 'green'. By contrast, the delegates at the conference seemed very upbeat about what they were hearing at the presentations.

The second thing that struck me was the David and Goliath image presented by Steve Dallas and his stunning home-built electric car that works today vs. the GM Volt prototype. While Steve invited people to sit in his car, GM reps were on hand to ensure no one took that liberty with their vehicle.

Steve is from the Toronto area, in Ontario. The Ontario government recently announced incentives to take effect in 2010 that would substantially subsidize the price of the GM Volt (which will not be built in Ontario, if it should ever become available for sale. Because Steve showed initiative and built his own electric car, it will not qualify for any incentive under the provincial program. With that sort of tilted playing field (announced tax dollars support for an unavailable hybrid to be made outside the province; no support for an electric car built in the province), it should come as small surprise that Steve has no interest in producing more copies of his smart 2-seater electric car. Pity.

Steve Dallas's electric car 2009.09.30

Video of Shai Agassi making the announcement at the 2009 Frankfurt Auto Show (2009.09.15)

The announcement on the Ides of July 2009 included statements which were as stunning to a long-time Ontario electric vehicle advocate as they were ambitious and sweeping. Statements like “The McGuinty government aims to have one out of every 20 vehicles driven in Ontario to be electrically powered by 2020. “ and “Ontario will also add 500 electric vehicles to the Ontario Public Service fleet.“

It's as if someone flipped a switch and your government finally got the message. You know, THE message. As if someone finally put together the devastation of climate change from burning fossil fuels in our vehicles, the burden of health effects caused by automotive emissions, and the need to foster an economic environment that is about sustainability instead of the extinction of the human species, and grasped that there is an answer.

It's hard to believe that this came from the same government that had to be badgered into allowing electric-assist bicycles in the province, and only relented in 2006 with a pilot program. Or the same government that only grudgingly permitted Low Speed electric Vehicles (LSVs) on our roads this year, and with such harsh restrictions that no one will build a vehicle to meet the unique and oppressive Ontario regulations; and that a decade after the federal government created the classification. Or the same government that took away preferential license fees for electric cars a few years ago. Or the same government that still prohibits electric motorcycles from using major Ontario highways.

However, I am confused by the one-year phase-in period before any of the announced incentives come into effect. Why not let the pioneers that already drive battery electric and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles benefit now? Why not provide a retro-active reward payment to those with licensed vehicles as of the effective date showing a Motive Power of E(lectric)? If the motivation really is putting clean air, electric cars that produce less Greenhouse Gases on Ontario roads, why not reward those innovators that are already doing so?

My fear is that this government is not so much interested in cleaner air as they are in providing an additional bail-out to GM and Chrysler, now that you are shareholders. The devil is in the details, and my concern is that your government will restrict the incentives to specific makes and models, as it did with the fuel efficiency incentives of recent years.

On reflection, if your government had taken this stance just three years ago instead of putting it off another a year into the future, perhaps we would have a domestic market for the burgeoning surplus of electricity in the province. A surplus that has reached such proportions that we are now shutting down perfectly functional nuclear reactors to reduce the supply. Further, last summer, when gasoline was over $1.40 a litre, Ontarians would have had another option for their transportation needs – electric vehicles.

Personally, I look forward to getting my Green Plates for my current, highway-capable, electric car, and I hope this signals a pervasive change in your government's attitude toward electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Now, if only there were HOV lanes in Ottawa.

After almost 30 years of reliable service, Edmonton chose to accelerate its removal of the remaining fleet of electric trolleybuses. I was in Edmonton on the day in question, and composed a photo-essay on the subject. I can't help but think that the residents will come to regret this decision in years to come.

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