Most people are aware that Velozzi is a promising participant in the Progressive Automotive X Prize. The team intends to enter two vehicles, the Velozzi and the Velozzi X1. Both will be plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that can use multiple fuels such as ethanol, bio-diesel, and traditional gasoline. The Velozzi is pictured above, but the X1 is yet to be unveiled. However, they do hint that the X1 will be more of a mainstream, attractive vehicle for the masses. The Velozzi team keeps most of the details of their work private, as they are taking the Automotive X competition very seriously. Recently, they announced Bayer MaterialScience will be joining their already acclaimed team to aid in their long-term goal of mass producing electric vehicles for the international market. The press release is posted below for more details.
VELOZZI
March 31, 2009
News Release
________________________________________________________________________
Velozzi team expands to include Bayer MaterialScience for the commercialization of Alternative Energy Vehicles
Los Angeles, March 31, 2009 — Velozzi and Bayer MaterialScience LLC (BMS) are off to the races to deliver commercially viable eco-friendly alternative energy vehicles (AEV) for the global market. The Velozzi team will participate in the Progressive Automotive X Prize, but its main goal is and will be the mass production of the Velozzi vehicles for the international market.
The intent of Velozzi is to design, develop, and build an environmentally friendly, affordable, lightweight and efficient plug-in flex fuel hybrid electric crossover vehicle, capable of achieving one hundred miles per gallon or its equivalent and a super hybrid electric vehicle with similar characteristics. Additionally, Velozzi intends to create a new and more efficient, environmentally friendly, way of mass-producing vehicles, using modularity and lightweight materials. Velozzi has expertise in hybrid systems, automotive design and construction. The Velozzi team has world-class experience in traction controls (SAMINCO), transmissions (Weismann R&D), batteries/hybrid systems (NASA) and now Velozzi intends to use BMS materials for the construction of its vehicles; BMS is the latest addition to an already impressive and talented Velozzi team. BMS is one of the world leaders in material science and, as such, brings to the project extensive know how, materials, and automotive applications engineering experience.
“Working with BMS brings us a world of possibilities on the road to consumer acceptance,” said Roberto Velozzi, Velozzi CEO. “With the broad selection of innovative materials and technologies BMS offers, we can produce a vehicle that not only appeals to consumers’ desire for fuel economy, but also their sense of style.” Velozzi added that incorporation of many BMS materials requires only a low initial capital investment, making the move into mass production cost effective.
“BMS is committed to the AEV market and has a deep understanding of the role innovative materials play from concept through commercialization,” said David Loren, market lead, PCS, BMS LLC. “We are actively seeking collaborations with suppliers and OEMs, such as Velozzi, to help them navigate through complex AEV challenges such as vehicle weight and manufacturability,” Loren added.
Velozzi, based in Los Angeles, California, is a company comprised of world-class scientists, engineers, car builders, and designers dedicated to develop environmental transportation technology to address issues concerning climate change, the dependency on volatile foreign oil prices/supply, and the inefficient way vehicles are being manufactured today. Velozzi is dedicated to designing, manufacturing & marketing environmentally friendly vehicles that can be powerful, beautiful and practical. Velozzi is the culmination of decades of R&D into the latest technological advancements tied to a ground-up approach ensuring delivery on a worldwide scale.
For more information about BMS materials, call 1-800-662-2927, e-mail naftainfo@bayerbms.com or visit www.bayermaterialsciencenafta.com.
For more information about Velozzi, visit www.velozzi.org or e-mail velozzi@velozzi.org.
Shelby Supercars has been developing its Ultimate Aero EV for about half a year now in an attempt to create the fastest production EV in the world. They hinted that they had breakthorough technology earlier. Now, they are making some pretty incredible battery technology claims. This pretty much sums it up:
SSC’s Nanotechnology Rechargeable Lithium Battery pack is rechargeable in only 10 minutes on a standard 110 outlet and has a 150-200 mile range on a single charge.
WEST RICHLAND, WA : January 21, 2009 – Shelby SuperCars (SSC) released the details today of the revolutionary electric vehicle technology to be unveiled in the second quarter of this year. SSC will reveal its innovative all-electric powertrain in the current Ultimate Aero, the Guinness Certified “Fastest Production Car in the World,” to create the Ultimate Aero EV and will reinforce the company as a benchmark in the auto industry. But unlike other auto manufacturers, SSC’s new technology will set a new standard in the electric car industry – one of 10 minute recharges, super horsepower and ranges of up to 200 miles per charge.
While other auto manufacturers focus on producing Green technology for specific cars, SSC’s focus is on producing Green technologies for a wide range of applications for an even wider range of vehicles. SSC’s electric powertrain package, named AESP (All-Electric Scalable Powertrain) is unique due to its scalable horsepower, light weight, compact size, quick recharge time and liquid cooling.
SSC’s Nanotechnology Rechargeable Lithium Battery pack is rechargeable in only 10 minutes on a standard 110 outlet and has a 150-200 mile range on a single charge. This means that in a typical 8 hour day, the car using this technology could go 200 miles, charge for 10 minutes (the time it typically takes to fill up a tank of gas), then drive 200 more miles, charge for 10 minutes and continue on. Some other EV technologies necessitate an overnight charge creating a class of “commuter electric cars” and are not practical alternatives to gas combustion automobiles.
The AESP’s main feature is its scalability. The all-electric SUV or delivery truck is now a reality in the not-so-distant future. The AESP is scalable from 200 horsepower for economy and midsize cars, to 500 horsepower for light trucks and SUVs, and up to 1200 horsepower for delivery trucks, heavy duty equipment, buses and military vehicles. The revolutionary design proves electric-powered vehicles not only match, but also provide more linear power (electric motors have 100% torque at 0 RPM) and overall performance than internal combustion vehicles.
SSC Electric Powertrain Technology
* All-electric. No gasoline.
* Light weight. Just a fraction of the weight of a standard combustion engine (less than 200lbs.)
* Extended performance. Internal cooling systems are built into the motors.
* Compact size. 1/18 the space of a standard engine; significant increase in cargo room.
* Scalable horsepower. From 200 horsepower (one motor) to 1200 horsepower (two motors “piggy backed”).
* Quick recharges. Only 10 minutes on standard 110 outlet.
The current AESP was designed to meet the manufacturing and quality requirements of major automotive manufacturers, transportation operators and the military. SSC will wholesale the AESP to mass production car companies, governments, and to public, private, and niche businesses. Costs for mass-produced units are $5K-$6K per unit for 1000 to 10,000 units (with further reduction in unit cost for increased production.)
SSC’s next milestone will be the pursuit of the “World’s Fastest Electric Car” with the Ultimate Aero EV later this year.
In case anyone had any doubts about how electric cars performed in extreme conditions, this is a new video of a Tango plowing through the snow.
After hearing about coworkers and friends not being able to get their cars started in the recent extreme cold, it got me thinking about how electric cars perform in these conditions. There is a prevalent misconception that electric cars don’t work well in the cold; so let’s have a look at what is necessary for an internal combustion vehicle to operate in below freezing temperatures:
* build engine blocks with frost plugs;
* install block heaters to keep the engine warm enough to start (using as much electricity just to start the engine as an electric car might use to completely recharge);
* use different formulations of gasoline and diesel fuel for cold weather;
* use gas-line anti-freeze to prevent gas-line freeze-up;
* use radiator thermostats to help the engine warm up faster (but leaving the passenger cabin cold until the engine has warmed up);
* use auxiliary (electric) heaters in the passenger cabin until engine heat is available;
* let the engine run for 10 to 30 minutes before starting out on a trip to let the engine and passenger cabin warm up;
* change to less viscous winter grade motor oils (e.g. 5W30);
* install winter grill (radiator) covers;
* use glycol or alcohol based engine coolants (anti-freeze), which have to be tested as part of that winter tune-up [Source]
For good measure, below is another example from Electri-History of how these vehicles operate in cold weather:
In early 1897, Electric Carriage and Wagon opened its first charging station on 39th street in Manhattan. Soon, electric taxi’s were shuttling patrons across the city. In early 1898, during a particularly severe snowstorm, the 14 electric taxis continued to operate when horse drawn carriages, trolleys, and buses failed. Newspapers spread the word of the marvelous new contraptions.
And today’s electric cars are not like your traditional car in which your battery is more or less exposed to weather extremes. Now, electric cars have battery packs that are usually in an insulated compartment; in extreme conditions, only the outside of the batteries is effected.
Even though this British electric supercar will be well out of the price ranges of most of us ($300,000); the Lightning GT utilizes such a unique drivetrain and battery that I think it will be an important project for the future of the electric car industry.
Drivetrain
The Lightning GT has four electric motors at each wheel, but don’t confuse that with the Venturi Volage’s Michelin “Active-Wheel” technology. However, the concept is similar. With this format, there are no gearboxes, differential, axle, drive shafts or propshafts. All of the power is generated at the wheel, the point at which it’s required, which eliminates mechanical complexity and power losses experienced in standard sports cars.
NanoSafe
The Lightning GT uses a unique battery called NanoSafe. These batteries use nano titanate materials instead of graphite which makes them far more thermally stable. There are no toxic substances or heavy metals used in NanoSafe batteries. Unlike standard Lithium-Ion batteries in electric vehicles these don’t need to be kept cool when charged/used or heated to get them to perform in sub zero temperatures. Therefore, the batteries can operate in hostile environments and will work in temperatures between 75°C and minus 30°C.
The Lightning GT’s Nanosafe batteries are not of the “laptop variety”. They are each about the size of a regular car battery. 30 of these units are dispersed around the Lighting GT to provide optimum balance and performance. This ‘designed-in’ weight distribution, low roll centres, and wheel mounted motors will allow the GT to achieve excellent road holding performance dynamics. The Nanosafe batteries should allow the car to have a max range of about 200 miles and be fully recharged in 10 minutes using a 3 phase power supply.
Here is some spy footage of a Lightning GT test drive for your viewing pleasure:
Below is a transcript of Peter Ward’s speech he gave at the launch of the Lightning GT. His speech has all the trappings you would expect from somebody that ran Rolls Royce and Bentley for 10 year.
Transcript of presentation by Peter Ward – Launch of the Lightning Car at the British International Motor Show at 13:00 on Monday Tuesday 22 July 2008.
Good afternoon ladies & gentlemen and a very warm welcome to you all on behalf of the Lightning Car Company. We’re absolutely delighted you could join us. For those of you who have been doing the press tour this morning and have got tired legs by now, we believe we’ve got the perfect antidote for you with an absolutely remarkable car to show you. This car is full of inspiration and has the latest you could hope to see in design and in terms of technical inspiration with both the batteries that drive the electric motors and the fact that it has four electric motors, one in each wheel. My name is Peter Ward and, for those of you who may have very long memories, in the 80’s and the 90’s I ran Rolls Royce and Bentley motor cars, so I was responsible for those 10 years for some of the largest and the most expensive
gas guzzlers on the planet. Having been at that end of the market I am delighted to be associated with the Lightning Car and to be able to present to you a very, very different motor car, a car that is purely electric – not hydro- and a car that is driven in a totally different way. Now you could perhaps say that I’m converted and I’ve got the commitment to the converted but nonetheless this car is a car that really and very truly can make a difference to motoring and I’ll talk about that in a little moment. The Lightning Car Company was started in 2006, so if you just think back, in under two short years, lead by the inspiration of Iain Sanderson and the sheer hard work of Chris Dell and Arthur and the team, then they have moved mountains and probably got very little sleep over that time to get this car to you today to present to you a true and working car, it really does work. They have moved a long way to get to this point but it is a car that is genuine and a true performance car, it’s a true GT as you will see and it has all the characteristics that you’d expect of a GT. When you actually see the car, then remember one thing, it is the actual car that you’ll also see on the plasma screens, so it’s a driving car and it’s capable of doing what it’s claimed to. The claims are quite marvellous, it only takes 30 batteries, it’s not one of these that has thousands and thousands of laptop batteries – it takes 30 batteries. Those batteries can be charged in 10 minutes, so by the time you’ve had a cup of coffee on the motorway you can charge this car. That’s just a 10 minute charge time on the right connection.
It has a motor in each wheel, so for those of you that are technically minded, the chassis dynamics and the opportunity for chassis dynamics on this vehicle are phenomenal because it means the turning angle into a bend and the speed at which you approach it you can get the wheels turning at different speeds. The expression of ‘on rails’ is almost true of this car, it is quite amazing. You can also put the sounds in it which means you can have it purring away like a beautiful smooth straight six or as raucous as a V12. You can choose whichever you want, so have some fun with that. I know that Chris and the guys are desperate for me to get these covers off and get me out of the way. This really is the moment that they’ve all worked very, very hard for, as I said earlier, when you look at the plasma screens; this car is a running car. This is the car that was at Alconbury airfield doing the road testing. It is going to be quite a life changing car. It’s going to meet a lot of things that come forward. You can talk to any CEO of any vehicle manufacturer here today and they’re talking electric cars and, in fact. even Gordon Brown two weeks ago was saying that his vision for 2020 was that electric cars and hybrid cars would be at the forefront of all our motoring needs. But that doesn’t have to be an odd looking or an unusual looking style it can be a performance car, as this will prove to be. So we’re very excited that this is a dynamic car, a car that does have all the performance characteristics. It will do 0-60 in less than 4 seconds when it’s fully developed – that’s because the wheel motors have such fantastic torque. It really can do an awful lot and the guys have worked extremely hard to get it to this point. It is an amazing car, the dynamism, the style and the technology that’s in it really will amaze you. So I’m going to ask the guys if they’ll come forward to take the covers off it, but as they do that I’d like all of you if you would to take absolute pride in what I know is the very finest in British engineering and British design. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Lightning Electric Car.
AC Propulsion(New Site, finally) technology is responsible for electric drivetrains found in the EV1, Tesla Roadster, eBox and the new Mini E, to name a few. This video mostly covers the eBox and how AC Propulsion will retrofit any combustion engine vehicle you have with their electric drivetrain, which I did not know. However, a full conversion will cost you $55,000. These drivetrains have extremely robust regenerative braking. Notice the eBox will come to a complete stop without touching the brake pedal. This ensures all of the energy from the car’s momentum is captured and put back into the battery. Also, Tom Hanks makes another guest appearance for AC Propulsion.
WEST RICHLAND, WA : January 21, 2009 – Shelby SuperCars (SSC) released the details today of the revolutionary electric vehicle technology to be unveiled in the second quarter of this year. SSC will reveal its innovative all-electric powertrain in the current Ultimate Aero, the Guinness Certified “Fastest Production Car in the World,” to create the Ultimate Aero EV and will reinforce the company as a benchmark in the auto industry. But unlike other auto manufacturers, SSC’s new technology will set a new standard in the electric car industry – one of 10 minute recharges, super horsepower and ranges of up to 200 miles per charge.