Electric Vehicles

[Carol]

http://www.ecogeek.org/content/view/1943/69/

The Tata Nano: World's Cheapest (Electric) Car?
Written by Peg Fong
Wednesday, 30 July 2008


So it looks like the world's cheapest car (the Tata Nano) could soon be the world's cheapest electric car as well.

The price of the Nano is just above $2,500 and Tata's chairman Ratan Tata says he expects demand to exceed supply. Tata's plant in the city of Singur in the state of West Bengal will eventually have the capacity to make 350,000 Nanos a year.

Tata Motors plans to make a second generation of its four-passenger Nano with a diesel engine. But initially, it will have a gasoline engine capable of 50 miles to the gallon.

But the interesting news out of Mr. Tata's talk to shareholders at the annual general meeting last week was that the company is competing for an Eco car in Thailand and looking at other ways to make even more fuel-efficient versions of the Nano.

Tata is working with a French firm in developing an electric Nano. The electric car will use compressed air. Tata Motors also announced earlier this year it is in talks with Chrysler on developing electric vehicles.

According to the Economic Times of India, a diesel engine for the Nano is being developed by a German company and will use a fuel injection system. Sources told the newspaper that the 800 cc, turbo charged diesel engine will be a two-cylinder and capable of at least 30 per cent more mileage compared to 800 cc gasoline powered cars.

It's hoped that the cheap vehicle willenable more people in developing countries to be able to afford their own car. But at the same time, there are concerns about the congestion and pollution caused by more cars on the road. In India, there are seven motorcycles sold for every car, according to the World Bank.

An all-electric or efficient diesel option would certainly decrease from those concerns. However, with India being coal powered, and lagging on emissions standards, it's not clear how much greener these cars really will be.

Via: Bloomberg and Reuters and Autobloggreen



http://www.think.no/
TH!NK Ox

See more photos of TH!NK Ox
The TH!NK Ox is our latest concept development and the first designated 5-seater fully electric vehicle. 100% emission free, the TH!NK Ox project includes a unique EV platform suitable for a variety of different body styles

A platform vehicle
TH!NK Ox is a platform concept, designed for electric drive vehicles, for the European, North American and Asian market. It is the basis for a variety of vehicle styles, starting with the TH!NK Ox Crossover 5-seater. This is possible due to a space frame concept featuring the main crash structure and the batteries centrally placed in two compartments in the lower frame.

The TH!NK Ox picture gallery shows an MPV version and a coupé version. The MPV version is suggested as a taxi with a larger luggage space. The MPV version is designed for easy entry and exit, and a spacious and easy access luggage trunk. The coupé and sports versions have a larger battery capacity for higher performance.

The TH!NK Ox Platform design allows two different standards of battery packs;
- High stack: two compartments, allows use of low cost, high range sodium batteries
- Low stack: gives space for flat Li Ion packs, allows lower/upper frame for sports car and flat flow applications

How about this 1959 Allis Chalmers fuel cell tractor...1959?
[link to images.google.com]

1959 Allis Chalmers Fuel Cell Tractor

Departing from the lightweight 80 horsepower IH HT 340 above, this 20 horsepower tractor weighed 5270 pounds, and certainly required no supplementary weight. Here was power of a completely different type. The AC fuel cell tractor used an AC D-12 tractor chassis loaded with 1008 individual fuel cells, fueled by a mixture of gasses, but predominantly propane, which in turn created a current flow. This was channeled through to an Allis Chalmers 20 hp DC electric motor to propel the tractor. Each fuel cell was about one quarter of an inch thick, 12 inches square, and produced approximately one volt of output. In unison, the 1008 fuel cells made an output of about 15KW.

Using the controller at the operator left, the four banks of fuel cells could be connected in series or in parallel, thus varying the voltage reaching the DC motor, much like a throttle. Reverse was simply a matter of reversing the polarity of the current through the controller with the crank-like handle. AC was excited by their research, noting that their tractor was twice as efficient as others of the period, the power was derived from no moving parts, it produced no emissions, and ran without a whisper. Futuristic indeed, and the recent resurgence in interest in fuel cell technology, along with environmental concerns, could still make a fuel cell tractor a reality. This tractor is now in the Smithsonian Institute.

Quote

This isn't a hydrogen fuel cell. HFC's produce electricity from an input of hydrogen. This is a internal combustion engine that runs on hydrogen. Just like the propane ranch trucks that run all over rural US. It's essentially the same procedure to modify any old gasser engine to run on a gaseous fuel source---> install tanks, plumbing, modify the carb. Computer controls add some fun to the process I'm sure, but I've seen plenty of new trucks with propane installed by a ranchers daughter - so it's not like planning a trip to Mars. Those big tanks were filled with gas from something that was producing hydrogen. Cracking water for hydrogen requires more energy than you get from combusting it and electrolysis is generally inefficient unless your using ultra rare platinum and your pumping it into a maybe 20% efficient heat engine (ICE). So Hydrogen is just an energy carrier in this case from panel to engine. And that entire process requires high pressure tanks, pressurizing pumps, etc. and is generally highly inefficient for being just another battery system. The best battery system is laid out in the physical properties listed on any good periodic table. [link to www.eagle.ca]


[link to historywired.si.edu]

Allis-Chalmers Fuel-Cell Tractor 1959

No heat, no smoke, no noise

In October 1959, this Allis-Chalmers tractor successfully plowed a field of alfalfa in West Allis, WI--its 20-horsepower motor run not by a standard battery but by what was then the largest operational fuel-cell unit in the world. Fuel cells produce electrical power directly through a chemical reaction, without heat, smoke, or noise. Unlike standard batteries, the cells do not store energy but convert chemical energy to electrical energy. After the October 1959 demonstration in the alfalfa field, the Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company donated the tractor to the Smithsonian.

[JoinTheFun]

People who build or built themselves :

http://nl.youtube.com/profile_videos...7think7clearly

EVAlbum

http://nl.youtube.com/profile_videos...akinnoizemedia

http://nl.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=n2confusion

http://evnut.com/