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There are companies building or designing electric vehicles that, for one reason or another, are not selling vehicles at the moment. Often they are companies in perpetual development like eCycle, and sometimes they are companies like AC Propulsion that build EVs as a way to test out EV components they plan to market, and sometimes the company is actually trying to sell their product but doing a terrible marketing job. This page is dedicated to those EV manufacturers that just might be selling vehicles in the near future.
Breaking News 5/29/2010 - Nissan announced that it had sold out first year production; looking to increase capacity
On
August 2, 2009 Nissan took the covers off the pre-production version of the
electric car, called the Leaf,
that will go on sale in 2010. The car is a 5 door hatchback with searing
for five and while looking a little like the Versa at the rear is longer and
more aerodynamic.
The Nissan Leaf's 80KW motor is powered by a 24KwHr Lithium battery pack that offers a range of about 100 miles (160 Kilometers) and a top speed of around 90mph (145kph). The car will come with two charging ports, one will allow the car to be fully charged in about 8 hours from a 220V plug, the other will be for a fast charger connection which will allow the car to charge to 80% in about 30 minutes.
The car will also included electronics that allow the car to communicate with a cell phone so the driver can check the state of charge or turn on the AC to precondition the car remotely. Preconditioning the car while charging can help with range since the required energy is taken from the grid instead of from the batteries.
Nissan is expected to begin shipping the car to fleets in the latter part of 2010 with sales to customers starting in 2011. Nissan will initially market the car in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Tennessee and North Carolina then expand to other states later. In the UK deliveries are expected to start in March of 2011.
Recommended retail price in the US will be $32,780 before any Federal and State incentives, and there will be an additional charge of about $2,200 for the charger installation. They will also be offering a lease option but the batteries will not be leased separately. Nissan is now taking reservations for the car which is a four step process. Fist you make a reservation and put down a $99 refundable deposit. then an electrician will come to your home to evaluate charger installation, the charger will then be installed at your home and finally the car will be delivered to the dealership of your choice.
You can reserve a Leaf using the "Reserve yours today" button on the web site, or talk to your local Nissan dealer.
See video of the Nissan Leaf courtesy of youtube
Ford recently announced that it would be putting electric vehicles for sale starting in 2010. Their first offering will be a version of the Ford Transit Connect van that will be built as a glider in the Ford factoryin Turkey then shipped to Azure Dynamics to be fitted with an electric drive train and lithium batteries.
The 2011 Transit Connect will be driven by a 28KWhr Li battery pack that offers a range of about 80 miles with a top speed of 75mph. Charging for this van can be accomplished from either a 110V or 220V source. The van will seat 2 people and has 135 cubic feet of cargo space. The power assisted rack and pinion steering provides a turning circle of just 39 feet which makes it ideal for maneuvering in narrow city streets.
The Transit Connect will initially be offered to Fleet customers starting at the end of 2010 but Ford have stated that they are also considering making the van available to the general public. .
Ford Announced that in mid 2011 they would begin selling an all electric vehicle version of their Ford Focus sedan. Details of this vehicle have not yet been announced but the car will use Lithium batteries that will provide a range of about 100 miles. Top speed is expected to be around 95mph although range will suffer greatly if the car is driven at high speed. The Ford Focus should be chargeable from either 110V or 220V in 12 hours and 6 hours respectively The car will be based on the new European designed Ford Focus.
See video of the Ford Transit Connect courtesy of youtube
See Drew Barrymore take Jay Leno's Green Car Challenge in an Electric Ford Focus courtesy of Hulu
Audi
have developed an all electric sports car called the e-Tron
which was shown as a concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The car is
driven by 4 electric motors to give it a total power output of 330 bhp.
These motors are driven by a 53KWHr lithium battery pack which is designed to
use only the top 80% of capacity, or 42.4KWHrs to extend battery life.
This configuration provides a top speed of 124.127mph (200kph) and will propel the car from 0 to 62.14mph (0 to 100kph) in just 4.1 seconds. Range is projected at 248 Kilometers (154 Miles) although pushing the car to its limits will likely drop that range down to around 60 miles. Stopping is accomplished primarily by regenerative braking but there is also ceramic disks on all four wheels operated by wire.
The car takes from 6 to eight hours to charge on a standard 220V connection and there is an option to fast charge in 2.5 hours using a 400V three phase supply. Audi engineers are also working on an inductive charging system that would allow the car to charge wirelessly.
Audi is expected to lease about 100 of these cars in late 2011 with a build of around 1000 cars in 2012. The cars are expected to cost around $200,000.
Over the last twenty years Peugeot has been the largest producer of electric cars in the world producing both the Peugeot 106 Electrique and the Peugeot Berlingo Electrique for the European market. Now they are going to start selling the Peugeot iOn which is really a re-branded Mitsubishi iMiEV and will also be sold under the Citroen name as the C-Zero.
The iOn will be driven by a 330V lithium ion battery pack that will give the 4 door 4 seat microcar a range of about 80 miles (130 Kilometers). Top speed from the 64hp electric motor will be around 80 mph (130 kph).
The car can be charged using the on-board charger from a standard 220V outlet in about 8 hours. The car will also come with a fast charge port that will allow the car to be charged to about 80% in just 30 minutes.
The iOn is expected to go on sale in France and the UK toward the end of 2010. So far there has been no indication of how much the car will sell for. It is also likely that there will be a Citroen version of the car.
Peugeot
are now taking reservations for the iOn in the UK through their reservations
page.
Peugeot was the first company to mass market and electric scooter, the Scoot'elec. but stopped production in 2006 after selling 3500 units. They are now poised to return to the electric scooter market with an electric version of their Vivacity range of scootgers , the E-Vivacity. The E-Vivacity will have a 4KW brushless motor driven by a Lithium Ion Cobalt battery that stored 2.6KWH of electricity and weights just 25Kg. The scooter has a top speed of 45kph (30mph) and a range of between 80 and 100 Kilometers (50 - 60 Miles). Regenerative braking is also available.
The supplied charger can recharge the battery in 4 hours from a standard 220V outlet and can reaches 80% of charge in two hours. The batteries themselves are rated at 1000 charge discharge cycles. Peugeot says this is enough for 40,000Km of riding but the math seems off to me. At 80 kilometers per charge 40,000 kilometer would be 500 charge discharge cycles so I would expect the batteries to do a lot better than Peugeot is quoting if they can really support 1000 cycles.
Stopping is accomplished by disk brakes on both front and back. The scooter is belt driven rather than using the hub motors that are common now on Chinese made scooters.
The E-Vivacity is expected to appear in dealerships some time in 2011. So far there is no indication of price.
Breaking News 7/27/2010 - GM announced that the price for the Volt will be $41,000 with a $7500 Federal Tax Credit making the final cost $33,500 plus tax license etc. The car can be ordered through select GM dealers
General
motors is in final testing of a car that will be marketed under the Chevrolet
brand as the Volt.
This car is a series hybrid, that is it is driven by an electric motor coupled
to a grid chargeable battery pack. There is also a small gas powered
engine that drives a generator that can be used to power the volt when the pack
voltage drops below a set limit. In a series hybrid the generator is
connected to the battery pack, it has not direct connection to the wheels.
The Volt uses a 16KW Lithium battery pack that provides a range of up to 40 miles of electric only propulsion. After that the 1.4 liter 4 cylinder gas engine turns on and the car can essentially be driven using the ICE while there is gas in the tank. The T-shaped battery pack actually has only 8.8KW usable, it is managed at a state of charge between about 40 and 80%, This is designed to extend the life of the pack which GM predicts will last about 150,000 miles before it will need to be replaced.
Charging will be done via an SAE J1772 compliant charging port that will allow the use of either a 220V or 110V outlet. It is expected that most Volt buyers will have a 220V interface installed in their garage. The car also comes with regenerative braking.
The car, which seat 4, will hit a top speed of over 100mph and, when not running in EV mode should return a respectable 50mpg on the highway but required premium gasoline. The European version of the car, sold under the brand names Opel Ampera in mainland Europe and Vauxhall Ampera in the UK, will also come equipped with a hold charge button that will force the car to run in ICE mode so that the battery charge can be kept for use in your destination city. Apparently the EPA think that the US consumer is too dumb to handle such a radical concept so the button won't be available on the Chevy version of the car, although like the EV button on the Prius, I expect this to be an early hack on the car.
The Volt will be priced at $41,000 Federal and State incentives. The car will initially be available in Seven regions, California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington DC starting around November or December 2010.
The car will have a bumper to bumper warranty of 3 years or 100,000 miles while the battery pack will be warranted for 8 years of 100,000 miles.
Orders can be placed directly with a participating dealer. To find the closest dealer to you check out their Dealer Locator
Daimler
has been testing an electric version of the Smart-for-Two,
called the Smart ED. in Germany for quite some time. The vehicle was
originally developed by British company Zytech
and used Zebra Batteries but the latest version comes equipped with a lithium
ion battery supplied by US EV maker Tesla Motors. The battery has 16.5
KWHrs of usable power and takes about 8 hours to fully charge from a 220V supply
and will reach 80% in 3.4 hours. The car is also capable of charging using
110V but charging takes much longer.
The Smart ED is powered by a 30 Kilowatt motor which will give it a top speed of 62.5mph (electronically governed). Daimler give a conservative estimate of range of 83 miles but actual range could be less depending on terrain and driving style.
Starting in October 2010 Daimler plans to expand its testing by making 1500 vehicles available world wide under a 4 year lease. They will lease mostly to fleets but some vehicles are going to be available to the public. The US will get about 250 of these vehicles which will lease at $599 per month. It is understood that the cars will be returned to Daimler for evaluation at the end of the lease.
Read about my test drive the Smart EV prototype at EVS 20
Fisker
is a start-up company based in Southern California that has developed a plug-in
hybrid called the Karma. The Karma is a serial hybrid which offers an all
electric range of around 50 miles from its 22KWHr lithium-ion battery pack,
after which a small gasoline engine will start up to keep the batteries
charged
Fisker's Q DRIVE technology gives the car a top speed of 125 mph and will go from 0-60mph in under 6 seconds. There are two driving modes, economy mode that offers reduced power to provide maximum range, and sport drive mode that allows full power to kick in. The car also offers regenerative braking and an optional full sized solar roof. To enhance their green image, no animal products are used on the Karma, and the wood used in the interior will come from trees damaged by California wild fires.
The initial vehicle will be a 4 seat sedan, which will be built in Finland, is targeted at the luxury market and will be followed by a convertible version. The car is expected to sell at a base price of around $88,000. Fisker has already started development of a lower cost sedan for 2010 under a project dubbed Nina.
The Fisker Karma will start shipping in September 2010 through a group of about 45 retailers but 2010 production is already sold out.
Fisker is now accepting Pre-orders for the Karma for delivery in 2011.
Wheego Electric Cars, which is a spinoff of Ruff and Tuff Electric Vehicles, who already have a NEV called the Wheego Whip on sale is now working on the Wheego Whip Life, a city electric vehicle that is capable of a top speed of 65mph so it would be usable for limited amount of freeway driving. Like the Whip, the Whip Life is based on the Chinese made Noble.
The car will have an AC motor driven by a 115 volt lithium battery pack that has a 260 Amp hour capacity. The batteries can be charged at either 110V or 220V. The web site is a little confusing to me but it appears that they car is fitted with 3 Delta Q chargers which probably means that the batteries are charged in three banks as the Delta Q chargers typically are designed for 48V to 72V packs. Charge time from 50% - 100% is quoted as 5 hours at level 2 charging which is quite slow. Range is quoted as 100 miles but I would expect less in real world driving.
The car, which seats 2, is fitted with the expected safety equipment including driver and passenger side air bags. Stopping is achieved with disk brakes on all wheels. Regenerative braking is standard.
A spokesperson from Wheego told me that the car has already passed crash testing and deliveries should start around September 1. Prices start at around $34,000 including freight charges, with another $2000 for the optional air conditioning
You can reserve a Wheego Whip Life using their reservation page.
Chinese carmaker BYD, who already sell a plug-in hybrid sedan in China, is also developing an all electric car called the E6. The E6 is a 5 door sedan powered by BYD's lithium battery pack which drives two electric motors one to power the front wheels and the other to power the rear wheels. The combined 268 hp gives the E6 a top speed of 140kph (87mph) and will drive the car from 0 to 100kph(0-62mph) in a rather sluggish 14 seconds. The battery pack provides a range of around 330 kilometers (205 miles) on a charge. The BYD web site quotes charging as 330V DC and 100 amps but since that sort of charging wouldn't be practical for home use I would expect a more modest 110V/220V charger to be installed in the production model.
The car is just under 15 feet long, 6 feet wide, 5.3 feet tall, and their web site quotes a curb weight of 5060lbs which seems really heavy to me but might well account for the sluggish performance.
BYD plan to start using the cars in a taxi service before the end of June 2010, and they are also supposed to begin selling the car in the USA during the second half of this year although I will be really surprised to see this as so far there has been no indication that BYD has set up any type of dealer network here in the USA, and the time it takes to get a car through US crash testing will also be a factor.
See Video of the E6 courtesy of youtube.
Chrysler-Fiat
At the 2009 Detroit Auto Show Chrysler announced that it would be selling and electric version of the Fiat 500 starting in 2010. They gave few details on the car except that it would have a 255 horse power electric motor and Lithium batteries. A123 were working with Chrysler to develop the battery pack but they have now dropped out. Chrysler has yet to announce who will replace them as the battery supplier.
Performance figures given for car were quite impressive with a top speed of 110mph, range of 100 miles and a 0-60 speede of 5.6 seconds. I expect these numbers to change before the final production date is announced.
The car will be engineered at Chrysler's headquarters in Michigan but built in the same Toluca, Mexico plant where the Internal combustion engine version is being built. The Electric Fiat 500 should show up in Fiat dealerships in the USA toward the end of 2012.
Tata Motors has shown an electric version of its Indica 5 door sedan and announced that it planned to put them on sale toward the end of 2009. That deadline has been and gone and apart from a small fleet of test cars the Indica Vista EV hasn't yet arrived in dealerships and probably won't until late in 2010.
The Indica Vista EV is powered by a Li Ion battery pack that will give the car a projected range of around 200 Kilometers (125 miles) on a charge and a top speed of 130kph. The car will accelerate from 0-60kph in just under 10 seconds. The car is probably going to be built in the UK and will sell initially there and in Norway. So far they have announced no plans to sell this car in India
Tata Motors showed an electric version of the Nano, the world's cheapest car, at the 2010 Geneva Auto Show. They announced that they plan to start selling the car in "select markets", which will be the UK and Norway initially, towards the end of 2010. The car will most likely be built in the UK and so far no plans have been announced to launch the car in India
Details are still sketchy on the Nano EV's specs but the car is expected to use Li-Ion batteries to give it a range of around 100 miles (160 Kilometers) and will accelerate from 0-60kph in just under 10 seconds. The car, which is slightly longer than the India version of the Nano, will seat 4 people.
Unfortunately Tata Motors has very little presence on the web and I haven't been able to find any mention on their web site. Th
Phoenix
MotorCars started out by building electric vehicles based on
vintage US models from the 1940s. Their first prototype was a 1937 ford coupe
but after getting it running to test out their system the drive train has been
removed and placed in another
The company was hit hard by the recession and it appeared that they had gone out of business. The company has now come under control of Dubai based Al Yousef LLC and they are back on track to begin delivery of their
The SUT will have a range of about 130 miles per charge and a top speed of 95 mph. 0-60 can be accomplished in just under 10 seconds. Payload for this truck is 1000 lbs.
The vehicle comes equipped with a 6.6 KW onboard charger that can charge the car from a 220V outlet in 6 to 8 hours. Also available as a 250KW fast charging system that can bring the batteries up to a full charge in as little as 10 minutes. The fast charger is expensive though at around $100,000 but will be a good investment for large fleets.
The
Altairnano batteries are claimed to have a high cycle life, 12 year shelf life,
and have eliminated the fire issues that have plagued other Lithium batteries.
Phoenix will follow up this initial offering with a second vehicle, this time an SUV, although no date has been set for this yet. The SUV will offer similar performance and to the SUT.
Phoenix say that they will begin deliveries to fleet customers by the end of 2010 but there is no indication so far as to when they will start delivering to individuals. They are also planning on participating in some EV trials that are currently going on including the one in Hawaii.
Their order page is now up and they are accepting non-fleet orders for delivery in 2010.
See the autoblog Green test drive courtesy of Youtube
Check out my test drive
For more information and pricing contact Byron at (909) 987-0815
Lynx Cars is a Danish company that builds a line of electric scooters. They have designed a two seat electric sports car called the Lynx Speedster that has performance that is even more impressive than the Tesla Roadster.
The car has two 450hp Lynx motors driven by a 400 V lithium battery pack that can propel the car from 0-100kph (62mph) in under 4 seconds and gives the car a top speed of 200kph (125mph). The car can be equipped with a choice of batteries offering a range of 150 km (90 miles) to 350 km (155 miles) on a charge. The car will come with an onboard charger and is also capable of being fast charged.
The Speedster has two modes of driving, power mode for maximum acceleration and ECO mode to maximize range.
Prices will start at around €85,000 for the 16KW battery pack and goes up to €115,000 for a car equipped with a 32KW battery pack. Lynx is currently taking orders for its first run of 300 Electric GTs. They require a $5,000 down payment and are projecting deliveries to start in early 2010.
Myers Motors have been selling their NmG single passenger three wheel car for quite some time now but they recognized that the single passenger format has a limited appeal. For the last five years they have been working on the development of their next vehicle, a two seat three wheel electric car which will be called the Duo. The car, which seats two people side by side like the Aptera, will have a range of 60 miles and will be capable of travelling at 75mph. The car will be powered by Lithium batteries with a pack life projected to be around 100,000 miles. The target price for the car is currently set at $29,995 and Myers have started taking pre-orders for the car. They state that for ever 200 cars pre-ordered they will be able to reduce the price of the car by $1,000 until they reach their target of 1000 pre-orders. If they can get that many pre-orders then the car will sell of $24,995 less any Federal and State tax incentives. Larger battery packs giving 80 or 100 mile range will be available as an option at a cost of $2500 for each additional 20 miles of range. Myers plan a first year build of 1000 units starting in the second half of 2010.
B.B.S is developing a low speed electric car called the Battery.Buggyster in China. The company, which was founded by two men, one a Swede and the other Chinese, aims to build a low cost functional electric vehicle for around town use. The two seat car has an ABS plastic body built around a tubular steel frame and soft top.
A 48V 110 AHr lead acid battery pack driving a 3.5Kw DC motor via a 250 amp controller drives the car through the rear wheels. The car comes with an on-board charger which would allow the car to be charged from a standard outlet. Range is quoted as 60 miles per charge although I would expect somewhat less usable range in real world driving.
The car is designed to comply with European Quadracycle laws and will be tuned down to a top speed of 25mph in the US to comply with NEV regulations. Safety will be enhanced by the addition of a tubular steel roll bar and four point seat belts.
The company has a working prototype and is now looking for investors to place the car into production.
Arcimoto, based in Eugene, OR, has developed a three wheel electric vehicle called the Pulse. The pulse offers a tops speed of 55mph and they quote range of 50 to 100 miles on a 96 Volt lead acid battery pack. Based on previous experience I would expect the usable range to be more like 25 to 30 miles. The pack will take about 6-8 hours to charge from a standard 110V outlet.
The Pulse looks a lot like the Triac with two wheels at the front and a single wheel at the rear, and it too seats two passengers in tandem. Stopping is accomplished with disk brakes on all three wheels with a separate mechanical parking brake on the rear wheel. The car doesn't feature power brakes but the car should be light enough to stop OK using the manual brakes.
Arcimoto are currently taking pre-orders for the Pulse and expect to do a first year build of 300 vehicles in 2010.
Breaking News 6/28/2009: The fist batch of Sun Motor Group NEVs is expected to arrive in the US in August
Sun Motor Group are planning on building a 2 seat fully enclosed NEV that has an interesting design that looks like it will be very aerodynamic. The car is currently being built in China and has a top speed of 45mph but will be governed to 25mph to comply with NEV laws in the US. The company eventually plan to build the vehicle here.
The car will have welded steal construction with power supplied through a 10hp electric motor. They will initially come out with a DX model with Range is quoted as 160 miles. Battery capacity is said to be 20KWhr so I would expect a range of 50 to 100 miles in real world driving, depending on battery chemistry. They also plan to offer an EX model that they claim will have a range of around 400 miles. The car will come standard with Lithium batteries and Lead acid batteries will be offered at a reduced cost. The car also comes equipped with a 300W solar panel which should give the car an additional 5 to 6 miles of range on sunny days.
Pricing hasn't been set for these cars yet but they are projecting around $32,000 for the Lithium battery version and about $24,000 for the Lead Acid powered version.
They are currently looking for dealers.
See video of the the Sunmotors Coupe and courtesy of youtube.
Free
Drive, based in Bozeman, MT, have developed a NEV called the Solar Bug.
The Solar bug is an interesting concept built around an electric ATV. The
car seats two in tandem on motorcycle seats and is steered using
handlebars. One additional feature is the roof which contains a 200W solar
panel which Free Drive say can add an additional 5 miles of range to the NEV in
sunny locations like Southern California or the Arizona desert.
The NEV is designed to go 35 mph to take advantage of the new medium speed legislation that is in effect in both Montana and Washington State and is being considered by several other stated including California. For states without medium speed vehicle legislation the car will be limited to 25mph. Range is given as 60 miles per charge although I would expect usable range in real world driving to be somewhat less than that.
The Solar Bug is driven by a 72 V maintenance free lead acid battery pack which drive the Pancake Motor via a 350 amp controller. Final drive to the rear wheels is by belt. The vehicle has a fiberglass body and weighs in at around 900 lbs. It comes with all the necessary safety equipment to meet both LSV and MSV requirements and in addition it has a built in roll cage.
When I talked to Free Drive a the 2007 Santa Monica Alternative Fuel and Vehicle Expo in October they indicated that the car could be on sale in a few months but they are currently working on putting a dealer network in place.
EVC is developing the Volta G/T, which they term a step through motorcycle that is basically a modern looking "Vespa Style" scooter similar to the Vectrix. The Scooter will be offered in three versions, the EVC-8 will come with an 8KW motor, the EVC-15 will come with a 15KW motor and the EVC-21 will come with a 21 KW motor. The scooters will be powered by a 72V LiIon battery pack which can be configured for 5.5KWH, 8KWH, or 11KWH and the controller can be programmed to meet several performance characteristics so you can tailor the bike to meet your commuting needs. One interesting thing about these scooters is that they use AC motors.
The EVC-8 will have a maximum speed of 70mph, the EVC-15 will have a maximum speed of 90 mph and the EVC-21 can be pushed up to a top speed of 110mph. Stopping power is provided by a combination of regenerative braking and disk brakes on both front and rear wheels. Range will vary depending on which battery option you choose but EVC claim that the maximum range of these bikes will be over 100 miles at 30mph with the largest battery pack option. Your range will obviously vary depending on the battery option you choose.
EVC are currently looking for dealers and plan on selling their scooter during the 2008 model year. So far there is no indication of price.
The Lightning Car Company are developing an electric sports car called the Lightning .that will use four hub motors, one driving each wheel. The car will also be equipped with Altairnano batteries. Three models are planned, the GT, GTS and GTSE. The GTSE has a planned range of 250 miles and is expected to cost around £150,000. The GTS version should do 0-60 in under 4 seconds. The company is currently putting the finishing touches on the ICE version of this car but intends start work on the electric version soon.
Coda
Automotive is a division of Miles Automotive that was formaly known as
Javlon. They are
working on a full sized freeway capable electric vehicles designated
the Coda Sedan. The sedan, which is about the same size as a Toyota
Corolla, is being build by Chinese Automaker Hafei.
These vehicles are projected to have a top speed of 80 mph and a range of around 100 miles on a charge. Their first prototype has been road tested and they are currently in the process of crash testing these vehicles.
Coda currently plans on making the first 200 of these, a Corolla sized sedan, available for fleet testing around the first quarter of 2010 then sell a small number in California later that year. The cost is expected to start at about $45,000
VentureOne is a three wheel two seat vehicle that is being developed in California and is based on the tilting technology developed by Dutch company Carver Engineering BV that allows the car to lean up to 45 degrees into curves. Their prototype a a narrow vehicle that seats two people in tandem. They plan on offering two different hybrid models and an all electric version. The electric version uses two 20KW in wheel motors driven by a 17KW Li battery pack. It is expected to have a top speed of over 75mph and a range of about 120 miles. the car will have an overall length of 11 feet 8 inches and a width of 48 inches and weights in at approximately 1,200 pounds.
The car will include extensive safety features including a roll cage, side impact rails, ABS brakes, driver air bag, and three point seatbelts.
So far there is no indication of when this vehicle might go on sale.
Aptera is a California based company that is working on the development of a streamlined three wheel vehicle that will be offered in a choice of hybrid or full electric configurations. The EV version will be offered first and is expected to go 0 - 60 in under 10 seconds, with a top speed of around 90mph, and a range of over 100 miles although this is not a hard number since battery chemistry has not yet been determined. The car is built using Carbon Composites giving the vehicle a total weight of only 850 pounds. So far there is no indication of top speed or number of passengers, They have shown their first pre production Electric Car and indicate that they expect this electric vehicle to go on sale some time in 2010. Price for the all electric vehicle is projected at between $25,000 and $40,000 depending on options. You can place a reservation, with a $500 refundable deposit, through their reservation page. In a recent letter to those who had registered they estimate delivery of the all electric version, starting in the San Diego and Carlsbad area of Southern California, starting the third quarter of 2009.
Check out the test drive done by Popular Mechanics
There is good video including freeway driving at Jay Leno's Garage
Shockwave Motors are currently doing performance testing on a three wheel EV that they call the Defiant EV3 Roadster. This roadster will have a single front wheel and will be based on a modified VW chassis. The car will seat Three passengers, the driver in front and two passengers in the rear. It is driven by an 8 to 10 hp WarP motor and Zilla Controller. Power will be pulled from a 144 volt Lead Acid pack giving a projected range of about 50 miles and a top speed of 75 mph.
Drive Electric plans to start offering the Defiant EV3 as a kit but will custom build if demand warrants.
Silence is a Canadian company formed as a joint venture between electric go-cart manufacture EBW and T-Rex who manufacture a high performance three wheel road vehicle. The result is a high performance three wheel electric car based on the T-Rex chassis which will be designated the Silence PT2. This three wheel freeway capable car will be 13 feet long, 6 feet wide, 4 feet high and will weigh in at just 900 lbs including batteries. It will be powered by a 100KW motor and will have a claimed range of 125 - 250 miles and a top speed of around 125 mph. There is no indication of the type of batteries they will be using but given the range I would expect an advanced chemistry like NiMH or Lithium. The company may begin accepting orders the Spring of 2007 with a price of $50,000 Canadian.
French battery maker Boloré is working with Italian car design studio Pininfarina to produce the Blue Car. The Blue Car is a five door sedan that will seat four. It is powered by a 50KW electric motor powered from a 30KWhr Lithium Metal Polymer battery pack with a nominal voltage of 410V produced by Bolloré subsidiary Batscap. The life of the battery pack is projected to be 200,000km (125,000 miles).
The car is capable of a top speed of 130kpm (80mph) with 0-60kph (40mph) in 6.3 seconds. Range is projected to be 250km (150 miles) and the car can be charged in about six hours from a standard 240V receptacle. Fast charging will also be available in the future.
Reservations are currently being taken for the Blue Car, along with a deposit of €330 with delivery currently expected to begin in 2010. To make a reservation go to their Reservations page.
Venturi recently announced their latest EV, the Eclectic. This is a three seat City class car that has solar panels on its roof and comes equipped with a small wind turbine so the car can be charged from renewable energy most of the time. The Eclectic is powered by a 72 volt NiMH battery pack that drives the car to a top speed of 50 kph (30 mph) and offers a range of up to 50 Km (30 miles). On a normal day the solar panels provide a range of around 7 km and the use of the wind turbine can add another 17 km of range. The car can also be charged directly from the grid with a full charge taking about 5 hours. The Eclectic is classified as a heavy quadracycle in Europe and can be driven by anyone 16 years or older.
Venturi say they have started work on the initial 20 test models and expect to produce about 200 for sale in 2007. These vehicles will only be offered in white. Higher levels of production are expected to commence in 2009. Base price is expected to be around 15,000 €
EcoV, based in Michigan, is currently developing a fully enclosed four passenger NEV. The car looks rather boxy but is designed to be reconfigurable to provide for a variety of uses and is also intended to require very little maintenance. This NEV is expected to give a range of between 20 and 40 miles depending on terrain and driving style and can be charged from a standard 110V connection. It is powered by six twelve volt maintenance free batteries driving a DC motor. The car's Dimensions are Length 133", Width 58", and Height 67.5" with a target price starting at $9995.
Ultra Motor are working on a three wheel, three passenger electric trike. This vehicle uses two 1KW hub motors to give a maximum speed of 50 kph (31 mph) and a a range of 100 kilometers (62 miles). They plan to build three different models from a covered version to an cheaper open top version. There is no indication of when they plan to go on sale with these scooters and it does look like they will be targeting developing nations like India.
The Hotzenblitz project from Treffpunkt Zukunft have developed a 2+2 seat electric vehicle which is capable of speeds of up to 120 kph (75mph) and has a range of 50 km (30 miles) with lead acid batteries. The car, which weights just 780 Kg (1700 lbs) is driven by a 12 KW Asynchronous motor.
The body is built of ABS plastic on a tubular steel frame with double wishbone suspension and disk brakes all around. The target price of the car is €10,000 to €18,900 depending on battery options.
Treffpunkt Zukunft built a fleet of 130 cars that are currently undergoing fleet tests but so far have been unable to move into full production.
They are currently testing a car using LiFEPO4 batteries and have demonstrated a range of 300 km (about 180 miles) using that technology.
Progressive Energy Technologies
Progressive Energy Technologies have developed a two seat sports car called the Jester. It has a 39.6KWh Li Ion battery pack and an advanced DC motor that supports regenerative braking. They have a prototype vehicle that is capable of doing 70mph and has a range of between 150 and 200 miles depending on the type of driving.
He currently doesn't have the capacity to produce these vehicles and is searching for a business partner who can supply the production capacity. The designer, Steve Green, thinks that with a volume in the range of 10-50 per year he could produce them for around £15,000 each. Their plan is to produce both a 2 seat and a 4 seat version.
The Arian 792 is an electric vehicle designed and built in Malaysia. It is billed as the smallest four passenger EV in the world and at a little under nine feet in length it is about four inches longer than the two seat Smart. The Ariana 792 will be powered by a 180V AC system utilizing NiMH batteries to give it a top speed of about 85 mph and a range of between 60 and 120 miles. The vehicle comes with an intelligent charging system that the manufacture claims can recharge the vehicle in about 5 minutes. This would require a tremendous amount of amps so it would not be likely that it could be used at home.
The prototype vehicle was shown at EVS 20 and the company is planning to begin manufacture in 2004. They are rumored to be purchasing a facility in Calabasas, CA and intend to sell in the US market. Since Crash testing requirements are a major barrier to small companies entering the US market expect to see a NEV version on the streets rather than the full EV version.
Innovech Holdings is an Italian company that is building an electric powered micro car called mycar at a subsidiary in Hong Kong.
The vehicle seats two and will have a removable hard-top. It will be made in four versions, a NEV with a top speed of 45kph; a two seat, a pick-up, and a van all with a top speed of 85kph (about 50mph).
For more information contact Inovech Holdings
Tel:
+39 011/521.74.82
Tel: +39 011/431.93.88
Fax: +39 011/83.43.11.79
Electrovaya are a Canadian manufacturer of Li based batteries. They are in the prototype phase with the Maya-100 Electric Car. The prototype was entered into the 2003 Tour del Sol but had to be pulled out part way through due to a fire caused by a problem in the electrical circuits. The prototype has been repaired and is now back on the road.
The prototype is equipped with Li Ion Super Polymer batteries that they claim give it a range of 120-160 miles (200-250Km) per charge. Charging time is about 8 hours but they also expect to have a fast charge capability available.
There is no indication on when, or where this vehicle will become available to the general public.
Korean company ATT R&D are currently developing a series of vehicles targeted at the US market. Kool Karz recently started selling their first offering, a NEV called the Invita over here and a second NEV should be arriving here soon. They also have a prototype city class EV called the Parade which has an all aluminum body to reduce weight. Top speed is 68 mph. The care will come in two models, the EV60 has conventional PbA batteries giving it a range of 60 Miles, while the EV150 will be fitted with advanced (probably Li-Ion) batteries for a range of 150 miles. The crash test requirements for vehicles sold in the USA might make it difficult for ATT R&D to enter the US market but with a target price of $20,000 for the lead acid version makes us hope that they can really start selling here.
Evolve Motor Works is has build a prototype front wheel drive recumbant three wheel motorbike called the Eilean/G2 that has a top speed of over 45mph. It is designed to lean in curves ("a leaner") which gives it exceptional stability for a three wheel design. The bike is powered by a LiIon battery pack but they are also testing with other battery configurations including a 72 volt PbA pack that they expect will provide a range of about 45 miles at a constant 25mph on a level road.
For more information contact EMW
L/E Autoworks are currently building a prototype of a NEV that they call the LaVie. This NEV was displayed at the 2006 Santa Monica Alernative Fuel Vehicle Expo but was little more than a fiberglass shell. The L/E autoworks talks about a plug in hybrid with a top speed of 40mph but it looks like they have altered their focus to produce a NEV instead.
Their plan is to produce a luxury NEV that can be used by the family and will have such things as Air Conditioning, back-up cameras and keyless operation.
SAM
Sam from Swiss company CREE is a 3 wheel vehicle looks a little like the Corbin Sparrow with two wheels at the front and a single wheel at the rear, but it seats 2 people sitting in tandem.
They originally produced 80 vehicles that they used to conduct a very successful test in real world use. However they did not have the funds to go into production and ended up having to lay off all of their employees. They have since restructured the company and are now looking for investors so they can start production again.
14 Hawker Genesis PbA batteries gives the Cree a projected range of 40 Miles and a top speed of a little over 50 mph. The vehicle is currently being tested by a small group in Switzerland and it is expected to go on sale there in 2003 at a price of about $7600 SF. The batteries will be leased separately at $60 per month. There are no indications so far about when Cree plans to make the vehicle available in the US.
The Takara Toy company recently showed its Q-Car range of EVs at the Tokyo motor show. Their first model is the 2010 which comes in two designs, one that resembles a dune buggy and the other that looks like a modernized version of a Detroit Electric. They both look like something a toy company would manufacture and are targeted at the over 25 group that buys their model cars. The drive train on these vehicles is quite simple. 6 PbA batteries power wheel mounted electric motors with an additional battery to provide auxiliary power. Takara is currently in negotiations with major auto dealers to sell them through their showrooms. The vehicles will be priced at about one million yen
Covco
Covco is a korean manufacturer who makes a series of electric and gas powered vehicles including electric scooters, electric three wheelers.
The ZEMF is a three wheel electric vehicle that seats two in tandem. It has a top speed of about 70 kph (45 mph) and a range of about 60km (35 miles). This electric three wheel car may be available in Korea already so check with the manufacturer.
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