September 1st, 2009
One For The Funnies: Electric El Camino
Stumble it!
Written by Christopher DeMorro, courtesy of Gas2.0, originally published on September 1, 2009
I’ve always held a certain affinity for the El Camino. It makes no apologies for what it is; niether car nor truck nor particularly attractive. But it lasted a long time and plenty of people purchased one. With the body of a truck but the handling of a car (sorta) many unfair stigmas came to be attached with the El Camino.
But just like the original El Camino did back in its heyday, Tom Leitschuh’s El Camino is breaking conventions by going 100% electric. Say what? An electric El Camino? It seems almost too outlandish to believe, but its true.
Tom removed the engine, gas tank, radiator, and other unessceary elements, but held on to the Chevy 3-speed manual transmission. This lessened the weight of the 1981 El Camino, allowing him to drop in 46 lithium-ferrite batteries. These batteries are good in 0 degree weather, something a lot of hybrids have a problem with. That is a good thing too, because Tom lives in Wisconsin, and the cheese state can get mighty cold.
But that is over 900 pounds of battery weight, a common problem with electric conversions. The batteries are spread out evenly between the engine bay and over the rear axle though, somewhat off-setting the precarious imbalance. Ground clearance may be an issue if he ever decides to laden the El Camino down with say, a dead cow (Top Gear reference).
The El Camino can supposedly get 200 miles on a single charge if carefully driven, but averages about half that. I can’t find anything on how fast this car will go, how much horsepower it has (probably not enough) or how long it takes to charge. But Tom has his own solar and wind farm, so he doesn’t pay a penny for energy. Whats more, the entire conversion, including El Camino purchase, cost only $30,000. In the grand scheme of things, that is a pretty good price (though several companies donated time and parts to the project).
I wholly encourage the use of any old muscle cars for alternative energy conversion projects. Tom’s next project? A clean Corvette. In my opinion, that is awesome, but ONLY if it can go at least as fast as its gas-powered cousins. If he chooses something from the late 70’s/early 80’s, that shouldn’t be a problem. But a slow Corvette is heresy, no matter what.
Source: AutoblogGreen via Journal Times, TDL Electronics
Popularity: 22% [?]
August 11th, 2009
Chevy Volt To Get 230 MPG In The City
If you’ve been surfing the web for the past few weeks, then you’ve inevitably come across those intriguing ads showing the number “23″ followed by a smiley-faced plug icon (or a “230″ if you see things that way). Some wondered whether it was some new smart grid product. Others mused that it must be some new tech company marketing campaign (Apple?). Still others thought it was a new announcement from an electric vehicle manufacturer.
Popularity: 5% [?]
July 15th, 2009
Zipcar Launches All-Electric Car-Share Scheme
Written by Andrew Williams, courtesy of Gas2.0, originally published on July 10, 2009
US-based car-share giant Zipcar Inc. has launched its first ever Electric Vehicle Pod, featuring an all-electric Citroen C1 and a Plug-In Toyota Prius. The vehicles, among the most efficient and technologically advanced on the road today, can be hired by the hour for a fraction of the cost of owning one.
The company figures that EVs are ideally suited for early, large-scale use in Zipcar’s car sharing platform since the average Zipcar trip lasts just under four hours and less than 25 miles, well within the range of a typical EV. (more…)
Popularity: 7% [?]
June 18th, 2009
Subaru Charges Into Electric Cars With Stella EV
Written by Andrew Williams, courtesy of Gas2.0
Subaru has become the latest in a long line of car manufacturers to start producing electric cars. The Japanese company plans to start selling a compact all-electric plug-in number called the Stella EV in Japan over the coming weeks.
Unusual for such a compact EV, the Stella boasts four seats and a top speed of 60 mph, which is likely to prove just about bearable to drivers using it as a second car for city use (photo gallery after the jump).
The Stella features a mains-charged li-ion battery, capable of a 15-minute fast-charge to 80% of the maximum, delivering a range of around 55 miles. Subaru has announced an initial run of 170 cars, which will available to Japanese customers in July. The price has been set at ¥4,725,000 (around $49,000) but buyers will be eligible to apply for a ¥1,380,000 (around $14,000) Japanese government subsidy through its Next Generation Vehicle Promotion Center program. Additional tax reductions are also expected to further encourage buyers following special measures brought in by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
No news yet on a global release but we’ll keep you posted.
Click here to see more photos.
Popularity: 5% [?]
