New car industry start-up Mindset, has announced plans to sell a gasoline-electric hybrid next year. The 2+2-seater hybrid, called the Six50, boasts an electric-only range of 100km (62 miles) via a built-in Li-Ion battery. A two-cylinder gasoline motor, which kicks in as a generator as required, boosts the range to 800km (496 miles). Battery charging is further assisted by integrated roof-top solar panels.

The Six50 tag hints at the target weight of 650kg (1430 lbs). However, according to recent reports, the prototype, composed of a plastic body built around an aluminum frame, tips the scales at a still fairly lightweight 800kg. According to Mindset, this means the car can achieve decent levels of performance. The 70kw (95hp) motor should enable speeds of up to 140km/h (75mph) and acceleration from 0-100km/h (0-60mph) in under six seconds.

The company was established by Marat Gunak, former head of design at Volkswagen, with backing from Swiss billionaire Lorenzo Schmid. According to Gunak, most cars are currently “too big, too heavy, too expensive,” a trend that he hopes to help overturn with the Six50.

First impressions suggest he might have succeeded in developing a small, lightweight car. However, many potential buyers will need to be persuaded that the price, currently estimated at €31,000 (about $47,900) - and likely to reach nearer €50,000 (about $77,200) by the time the Six50 hits the market - is not “too expensive.” For an average buyer, that’s pretty darn expensive.

Posts related to Hybrid and Electric Vehicles:

• Toyota Announces New 516-Mile Range Fuel-Cell/Electric Hybrid
• Company Turns Familiar Gas Cars Into Electric Vehicles
• First Time Ever: Prius is Most Searched New Car on Cars.com
• Think Electric Cars are Expensive? Try Ford’s F-250 Full-Sized Truck

Image Credit: Mindset

The combined sales plan for the US and Japan calls for a few dozen to be leased the first year with about 200 total units leased over the next three years.

The FCX Clarity was designed from scratch as a dedicated fuel cell vehicle and is powered by the relatively compact Honda V Flow fuel cell stack. With a 280 mile range per tankful of hydrogen, Honda claims it has a miles-per-gallon-gasoline-equivalent (GGE) fuel economy rating of 74 mpg (how’s that for a confusing tongue twister of a concept?).

Honda chose California as the starting place for the roll-out because, currently, California has the best liquid hydrogen distribution network in all of the US — with plans to expand the existing network of hydrogen fueling stations even more.

Hydrogen fuel cells create electricity to run a vehicle in the same way as a battery powered vehicle. However, fuel cells need to have their electricity generating substance (e.g. hydrogen) constantly replenished, whereas batteries are a closed system that can be recharged by plugging them into an outlet.

To accommodate the special equipment needed in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, Honda has designed and built a new dedicated assembly line. The assembly line includes processes for installing the fuel cell stack and hydrogen tank. Because of the potentially explosive nature of storing compressed liquid hydrogen on board, the attention to detail must be very high.

Obviously, the adoption of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at any meaningful level is going to be entirely dependent upon accessibility to compressed liquid hydrogen refueling stations (unless hydrogen can truly be produced in large enough quantities in the vehicle and on-demand by some other means). This is no small road block and it leaves me still wondering if hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will ever really make it big.

But I guess it’s a good thing to research all the different possibilities for cars of the future. Eventually a few technologies will settle out as the winners and the world will be better off for it. I could be eating my words in 10 years, but I just don’t think hydrogen fuel cells are going to be one of those winners though.

Posts related to Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Vehicles:

• VW Debuts Tiguan HyMotion Fuel-Cell Vehicle and 2009 Clean Diesel Jetta
• GM Backs Hydrogen Refueling Station Near LA
• Toyota Announces New 516-Mile Range Fuel-Cell/Electric Hybrid
• Want to Test Drive a Hydrogen Powered Car? GM’s “Project Driveway” Looking For Drivers
• Provoq Concept Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Vehicle
• Company Unveils Hydrogen Hybrid Supercar: Available Fall 2008
• Safe Hydrogen Fuel System Ready for Market and Your Car!
• Save Gas Without Losing Your Shirt: 3 Gas Saving Devices with High Scam Potential

Image Credit: Honda Motor Company

Tiguan HyMotion Fuel Cell Concept Car

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to attend a VW press event showing off the new hydrogen fuel cell powered Tiguan. The vehicle (above) is one of only two concept prototypes in the world, and this one was flown in from Germany for its US debut.

The event was originally intended to be a test-drive of the HyMotion Tiguan, but the vehicle was having “electrical problems” that kept it out for display only. A VW spokesperson assured us that it had nothing to do with the fuel cell, but whatever the problem was they didn’t want it to happen to us in mid-day San Francisco traffic.

But it was a good opportunity to get under the hood of a fuel cell powered vehicle. The Tiguan HyMotion has an onboard carbon-fiber tank capable of storing 3.2 kg of compressed hydrogen, which gives it a range of about 160 miles. It has a lithium-ion battery that serves as auxiliary energy storage and is re-powered by braking energy or the fuel cell. (In case you aren’t familiar with fuel cells, they can power an electric drivetrain by using electricity generated from splitting hydrogen molecules. More on how fuel cells work.)

Where does the hydrogen come from? Well, noone really knows yet. Unlike GM, who backed a new hydrogen refueling station near LA the other day, VW does not have any plans to invest in infrastructure. The Tiguan HyMotion is just a prototype that allows them to play around with the technology, and they said it was at least 7 years away from any kind of commercial production.

On the other hand, VW did let us test drive the new 2009 2.0L Jetta “clean” TDI Sedan (which will be released in the US in August) and the gas-powered 2.0L Tiguan TSI. I took the wheel of the Tiguan first, which felt like just about any other new car but was noticeably sluggish in responding to the gas pedal. I wasn’t particularly impressed by its 18 mpg city / 25 mpg highway rating either.

But the Jetta sedan was worth waiting around for. Having zero experience with newer diesels (I own a 1987 Toyota Truck, which is a heartless 2L diesel), I was surprised to find out just about everything they’ve been saying is true: the new diesels are so quiet you can hardly tell it’s a diesel, except at idle, and it handles like any other comparable sedan on the road.

It also has power. Close your ears/eyes VW, but during the downtown SF test drive I was somehow able to hit a clear straightaway onto a freeway onramp that left my passenger and I deeply imprinted in our seats. If you’re worried about acceleration and horsepower in these new diesels, well, don’t be.

It’s been several years since VW introduced a new model diesel in the US, due to the implementation of strict new emissions standards. I’ve written before (see Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline) about how the new clean diesel Jetta has cleaner emissions than your average car. My only gripe is that the EPA mileage estimate is listed as 29 mpg city / 40 mpg highway. Older Jetta’s seem relatively well-known for getting up to 55 mpg, and I’m not sure if the difference has to do with the new emissions technology or changes in horsepower.

Posts Related to Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Clean Diesels:

• Clean Diesel Cars Coming to US This Fall: 2008-2010 Timeline
• 2009 Jetta BlueTDI Comes to US This Summer, Sports 60 MPG(?) and Cleaner Emissions
• GM Backs Hydrogen Refueling Station Near LA
• Toyota Announces New 516-Mile Range Fuel-Cell/Electric Hybrid

Hydrogen refueling:

2009 Clean Diesel Jetta TDI Sedan:

There are lots of reason to want to live in Japan, but being able to lease the new Toyota Fuel-Cell Hybrid sometime this year is now high on my list. Later in 2008, Toyota will release their new FCHV-adv model, which reportedly has a maximum cruising range is 516 miles (compared with 205 miles for Toyota’s previous fuel cell vehicle). This improved model uses both the hydrogen-powered fuel cell and an electric motor, and has improved performance partially due to better braking efficiency.

Also, Toyota claims they’ve managed to outsmart one of the challenges of using a fuel-cell auto: low temperatures. The FCHV-adv model can start and run in temperatures as low as -22 degrees Farenheit.

Toyota spokeswoman Kayo Doi announced that pricing and other details weren’t available, and overseas plans are still undecided. But the sooner these cars hit the road — anywhere in the world — the better for the whole planet.

Check out our Cleantechnica post about this new Toyota model here.

Cool replica of the Lotus 7 with plenty of horsepower and legendary performance.

Source:

As reported by the New York Times yesterday, the two leading manufacturers of electric cars in the US are involved in a serious quarrel over alleged theft of vehicle design and trade secrets.

Tesla Motors, who recently began production of their electric Roadster, claims that Henrik Fisker took on an $875,000 design contract with Tesla in order to access confidential design information. After producing “inferior work,” Fisker launched his own company, Fisker Automotive, and released an $80,000 competing vehicle—the Fisker Karma—less than a year later.

“I think it’s ironic that Fisker chose to name his car the Karma, when what he’s done is very bad karma,” said Adam C. Belsky, a lawyer at Gross, Belsky & Alonso who represents Tesla.

Tesla is hoping the lawsuit will bar Fisker from using Tesla design documents, as well as return the design contract money and an unreported amount in punitive damages.

Interestingly enough, Tesla Motors is also being sued by its transmission supplier, Magna, for allegedly failing to pay them for contract work.

It sounds like a lawsuit nightmare for Tesla, who already experienced significant delays in releasing their Roadster (due to trouble with the transmission). Learn more about Tesla’s First Electric Vehicle, the 2008 Roadster, and Fisker’s Eco-Chic Karma.

For more on this story, see the New York Times article, Earth2Tech, and Autopia.

Photo Credit: Tesla Motors and Fisker Automotive

So what makes Zenn Cars special among the EV contenders? They’ve thrown their money behind a different kind of battery. Solid-state super capacitors (not technically batteries) supposedly last longer, store more energy, and cause less ecological harm than lithium-ion or lead-based batteries. This is where the story gets interesting.

EEstor is the secret behind this promising promise, and the operative word here is “secret”. EEstor shuns publicity, refuses to give interviews, and certainly hasn’t been showing off their product. Everyone’s trying to learn more about this company and its technology, but I can’t seem to find their web page - if they have one. Yet EEstor (if that’s their real name) has already raised a few brows by signing a deal with Lockheed Martin for defense and homeland security applications (details not disclosed). If they can deliver what they promise it will change everything. We’re talking batteries that are lighter, stronger, faster, cheaper, and they never lose their charge capacity. The possibilities for everything from autos to cell phones are exciting to put it mildly. Imagine buying one rechargeable battery for every cell phone, laptop, gadget, appliance, etc. you’ll ever use. Ever. Imagine car batteries that never go to the landfill and eliminate the need for gasoline. Exciting? You bet. But only if EEstor can walk the walk, after trying their hardest to avoid the talk.

On top of all this, it seems like everyone is coming out with electric vehicles in the near future. Tesla’s Roadster is already under production and promises to come out later this year. Aptera’s futuristic Typ1 could also come out at the end of this year or in 2009. In 2010 GM swears they’ll roll out the much-awaited Volt. The Zenn Citycar could be available in Fall of 2009, which would put it right in the middle of the hot new EV market. It’ll be fun to see who, if any, come out on top with the “Prius” of electric vehicles.

Sources: Zenn Car

www.redferret.net

www.Ecogeek.org

Media.CleanTech.com

www.technologyreview.com

Sources: EEstor

Money.CNN.com

www.News.com

www.TreeHugger.com (EEstor intro)

www.TreeHugger.com (EEstor press release)

TheFraserDomain.typepad.com

Wikipedia

Sources: Electric Vehicle Release Dates:

Gas 2.0

(image courtesy of ZennCar)

Yesterday, according to Jalopnik, a reporter leaked out the first video of the Chevy Volt electric car. While GM is keeping their work under pretty tight lock and key, the excitement is tangible—even though the car won’t be officially released for another 2 years (2010)!

Check out the video (click on the image to go to Jolopnik) to see what the release model might look like (that is, if you can estimate what’s underneath about 10 yards of duct tape). There’s also some discussion about the Volt getting 150 MPG, and the advances in battery technology since the EV1.

Related Posts:
Chevy Volt: Where Is GM’s Electric Car?
New York Power Authority to Test Subaru R1e Electric Car
Tesla’s First Electric Vehicle, 2008 Roadster, Now Under Production

For under $30,000, you will soon be able to buy an electric car with a 120 mile range, or a plug-in hybrid that gets 300 miles-per-gallon.

Sound like a fantasy, but this one could be coming to a dealer near you. Slated for release in late 2008, the company Aptera will be offering the initial limited release of their fully electric model Aptera Typ1, and the 300 mpg plug-in will follow in 2009.

At first glance, this thing looks as ungainly and futuristic as other highly efficient, low-drag vehicles (it reminds me of a wingless Cessna 206). But before you pass judgment, check out the test drive video from Popular Mechanics. Also see the short video segment below. This thing cruises, topping out at 85 mph:

Aptera’s car is really a study in advanced aerodynamics. As the PM video points out, the Typ1 has embedded body panels, glass, and even windshield wipers to reduce drag. You’ll also notice it has only three wheels, which makes it legally registered in California as a motorcycle (and eligible for use of carpool lanes). It also has some nifty features, like recycled interior components, and embedded side and rear video cameras that replace side- and rear-view mirrors. Solar cells on the roof supplement internal climate control and shunt warm cabin air out the back of the vehicle—further improving efficiency and decreasing drag.

It should only take a few hours to charge the Typ1’s 10-kilowatt lithium-ion battery packs, at a cost of $1 to $2 (based on typical California electricity prices).

Aptera is currently taking refundable $500 reservations on their website.

More Electric Cars:

An Electric Car You Can Buy Today: The $20K TRIAC EV
Plug-In Hybrids Use Over 17 Times More Water Than Regular Cars, Researchers Say
Get 120 MPG Out of Your Prius (Plug It In)
The Sporty Future of Electrics Cars: the Lightning GT
For more information, see the following:

Aptera: www.aptera.com
Popular Mechanics (Nov. 20, 2007): 300-mpg, Electric Aptera Typ-1 Ready for 2008 Production
Popular Mechanics (Dec. 21, 2007): Aptera’s Super-MPG Electric Typ-1 e: Exclusive Video Test Drive
TreeHugger (Nov. 19, 2007): Unveiled: Aptera Typ-1 100% Electric and Series Hybrid Vehicles

Photo Credit: Aptera

A 30-mile commute in a gasoline-powered car would require the withdrawal of 18.9 gallons of water… The same commute in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), meanwhile, would take a whopping 318 gallons…

So what accounts for the increase in water usage? PHEV’s don’t require water directly, but the power plants that power them do:

Any power plant that runs steam turbines uses water, whether fired by coal, natural gas, or nuclear energy, says King, a mechanical engineer at the Bureau of Economic Geology at UT. Many plants consume water by running it through cooling towers where it evaporates away. Plants can also tie up water resources via withdrawal, in which plants recycle water that is drawn from a reservoir.

This is enough of an increase to warrant consideration by public policy-makers, especially in arid climates. If 25% of the nation’s fleet converted to plug-in vehicles it would require an additional 1 billion gallons of water for electricity generation. For comparison, that’s almost half the total urban water used by the state of California in one year.

But no one, including the study authors, is saying that plug-in hybrids should be blacklisted. It just adds an important consideration for water-stressed areas that have plans for a grid-based automotive fleet. It also highlights the importance of using sustainable (wind, solar) sources of electricity for electric vehicles.

And as far as the alternatives go: PM pointed out that growing a bushel of corn requires 2200 gallons of water, which only makes 2.7 gallons of ethanol. I would take a fleet of plug-ins over a fleet of Flex-Fuel vehicles any day.

Related Posts:
Get 120 MPG Out of Your Prius (Plug It In)
Sick of Gas?: Convert Your Car To Run On Electricity
Will Plug-In Hybrids Become the Standard?

Source:
See the study here.
ES&T (Feb. 20, 08): Plugging in to more water use
Popular Mechanics (Mar. 7, 08): Plug-in Cars Could Drain U.S. Water Supply, Researcher Says

Photo Credit

What I learned from this transaction, is that the process of buying a used car is changing with the infusion of hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV) into the marketplace. Let me explain.

Oh, the building in the background? I have a link at the end of the article.

As you know, we’re older. (Well, I’m much older, Sally’s just older.) We have limited income and some physical considerations, so we had to settle for something less than I would like from the standpoint of our carbon footprint. Purchasing a used HEV was out of the question, as much as I would like to have one, but I’ll cover that later.

I did all the “guy” things, you know, kick the tires, check the engine, look at fluid levels and general physical condition. Sally did her part. She looked it over inside and out, got in the passenger seat for the test ride and exclaimed, “I like it, let’s buy it,” and we did.

Later, I got to thinking, what used car will you buy in the next few years? This will undoubtedly be my last car purchase, and it was done in the traditional manner with all the traditional considerations as outlined above. You, on the other hand, may have to think about more than the tires, drive train, engine, brakes and the like.

Someone driving an HEV today will buy another car in three to five years, depending on their income, driving habits and so forth. The car winds up on the used car lot, you want to upgrade your ride, and look to the used hybrid for its environmental friendliness and lower cost of operation.

But wait, what about the battery pack, the ultra-caps, the electric motor(s) that drive the wheels, the electronics that manage the whole operation?

If you haven’t read it, let me refer you to my earlier article, “Will Plug-In Hybrids Become the Standard?” There’s a good illustration on how they work and the systems the coming used car buyer will have to take into consideration before making the purchase.

You, my friend, are faced with some factors that may take the joy out of your ride in the future. Kick the tires. If there’s a small gasoline engine included, you can check all the fluids and do that “guy” thing, but the battery pack is a whole new world. Batteries don’t last forever; their life spans vary according to age, usage and a limited number of charging cycles.

That used battery pack could go at any time, dependent upon the factors stated above, and they are expensive. No batteries, no money, no ride.

Manufacturers say the batteries used in today’s hybrid vehicles (Lithium Ion or sealed Nickel-Metal Hydrides) last a long time and are dependable and safe. If you’d like to learn more about hybrids, batteries and HEV’s in general, I recommend the Alternative Fuels & Advanced Vehicles Data Center, which is constantly updated. I found it very helpful in my research for this article, and would rely on some of that information before considering a hybrid.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t buy used HEV’s. My point is to learn as much as you can about them before going to the used car lot, and be firm about getting all the information on the car of your choice before making the commitment to buy.

Finally, what will your used HEV be worth when you trade it in for a newer model?

Remember Ben Franklin’s advice, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Now, why did two old “codgers” buy a 4-wheel drive SUV? Any off-road driving I’ll be doing will be on a city street that isn’t paved, and we still have a few here in Tucson.

The car we traded in was a 1996 Ford Contour, a four-door and in pretty good condition. But we aren’t young and supple anymore, and just getting in and out of that puppy was becoming very uncomfortable for both of us. That’s why we needed something larger, one of those where you just slide your butt in and get comfortable. This car, a 2005 Kia Sorento, was perfect. We got a great deal from a car salesman who has been a trusted family friend for nearly 50 years. Of course, that limited us a great deal in our selection — but then, you know where used car salesmen rank in the public trust category. We did a good thing.

Now comes the question, what can we do to help offset and minimize our impact on the environment and still enjoy this nice vehicle? I posed this question to our list of writers, and MC Milker pointed me to her website, The Not Quite Crunchy Parent, and a post she wrote, Greening your Car.

She talks about a pair of my favorites, Click and Clack, who broadcast their Cartalk program each week on NPR. I don’t know if you’ve heard these guys, but they can be very funny, and informative. One of them, I’m not sure which, laughs at everything his brother says — or is it a laugh track? Probably not, but anyway, the boys dedicate part of their website to Driving Tips for Tree-Huggers.

Not surprisingly, I already know the rules, but will post them here if only to remind myself to follow the tips.

• Get Your Car Serviced regularly.
• Check Your Tire Pressure
• Don’t Top Off Your Gas Tank
• Don’t Use More Octane Than You Need
• Dispose of Fluids Properly
• Slow Down and Drive Sensibly
• Stop Your Idling
• Join a Car Co-op
• Carpool with the Yutz Next Door

MC also included a link to a great carbon offset site, NativeEnergy, and Sally and I are going to sit down and work this out. Neither of us, by the way, are eco-stressed over our car. We drive so little anymore, but I still think it’s important to do whatever we can to help reduce our impact on the environment.

Referring back to the picture, the building in the background is San Xavier del Bac, also known as The White Dove of the Desert. As you can see, renovation is underway on the building, which dates back to 1783. Services are still held at this old Spanish mission, one of Tucson’s most cherished sites.

Go forth, buy the HEV and enjoy.

Sorry, this video is no longer available! But here are more posts on the Tesla Roadster:

• Tesla’s First Electric Vehicle, 2008 Roadster, Now Under Production
• Tesla Motors Sues Fisker Automotive Over Electric Car Design

Which system will survive? Or will we have a mixture of E85’s, biodiesel, electric, air and hydrogen fueled vehicles cramming our highways and straining the fuel delivery system infrastructure? Eventually, according to the age-old theory that the fittest shall survive, one method of moving us from point “A” to point “B” will emerge, and some folks are betting on the plug-in hybrid.

Designing a battery that will store a lot of energy and handle power surges has been a real problem for automakers. The Lithium-Ion battery has shown it can do both, but engineers say rapid discharges can degrade the battery’s lifetime. One car company using Lithium-Ion batteries, Tesla Motors , has developed a high-performance, all electric roadster with a range of 200 miles or so. The price tag, around $90,000, give a take a few thousand, takes it out of the family car bracket.

Hybrid-electric vehicles combine a battery with an electric motor and a gasoline engine to propel the car. The engine, and energy regenerated during braking, keep the battery charged and the car moving.

Designing a practical plug-in hybrid is another story, and it’s all about the battery, or batteries. It takes more batteries for a plug-in, with substantially different capabilities, such as storing a lot of energy and providing quick acceleration, or discharge of energy when needed. In addition, these batteries need to be more compact, affordable and safe as they cycle through various uses.

Lithium-Ion batteries fill most of that bill, but their useful lifetime can be degraded by sudden sudden surges of power, and there still seems to be a lingering doubt as to their complete safety when overheated.

So how do we answer the need for quick power surges and large storage capacity? With capacitors, of course.

Actually, they’re called Ultracaps, the electrical equivalent of a shaken champagne bottle. The difference being they also recharge quickly, having 10 to 100 times the power density of typical batteries and only one-tenth the energy density.

In case you aren’t acquainted with capacitors, I’ll try to help. First of all, capacitors are used in every electronic circuit, in your computer, tv, radio, and cell phone to name a few.

How do they work? Take two separate strands of wire, and on the end of each, attach a flat piece of metal we’ll call a plate. In between these plates, place what is called a dielectric, or a material that will not pass electricity, and put all that into a material that holds it all together which is, in itself, a dielectric.

Now, hook one wire up to the positive side of a battery, the other to the negative side for just a second. A charge builds up on one plate only, and stays there until you put the two wires together, and the capacitor discharges in a flash. I wouldn’t try this with a huge power source, a 6 volt drycell should give you a small spark.

Increase the size and capacity of these capacitors and you have ultracaps, capable of providing an instant power thrust and literally recharging a second later. This, as they say, is a marriage made in heaven for plug-in hybrids.

A working example of this concept is the Extreme Hybrid which was rolled out at the Detroit auto show in January. The developer, AFS Trinity, is not an auto company. They took a Saturn vue hybrid and retrofitted the vehicle to achieve a 40 mile electric range before reverting to run efficiently on it’s gasoline engine like a normal hybrid. Gas mileage comes in at around 150 mpg.

The Extreme Hybrid site features several videos featuring the car. No, it isn’t ready for production yet, but the technology has been proven and this type of plug-in hybrid may become the standard for automotive transportation in the future.

You might say, but what about the gasoline? Will we still have to buy fossil fuels to run our small engines? Not likely, with the advances in biofuels, especially the promise of algae-derived fuels, the day may soon arrive when we won’t use gasoline at all.

What a concept.

Related Posts:
Hybrid Hacks and Toyota Yawns?
Plug-In Hybrids Use Over 17 Times More Water
Chevy Volt: Where Is GM’s Electric Car?

Image and Source

Dear EcoGeek,

Alan Carney
Dallas, Texas

Hey Alan, Much love to the people who made Who Killed the Electric Car?, because they got a lot of stuff right. It wasn't any one person, corporation or technicality that killed the EV1. As with all product failures, it was a combination of tons of factors.

The reason major auto companies aren't making electric vehicles look like this. First, Americans were looking for SUVs, not ultralights. Second, the technology was primitive, the biggest problem being that batteries could only take cars a hundred miles before they needed to spend hours at a charging station. Third, major car companies were too foolish to see that, in the next decade, electric cars could quickly become technologically viable and extremely appealing, so the abandoned their projects completely.

And now, here we are. Electric cars are technologically viable and extremely appealing. But no one's done the kind of development necessary to introduce a pure electric vehicle to the mass consumer market. But it will happen. It's just probably going to happen intermittently, by solving all three of the above problems in different ways.

Drivers will have to get used to smaller, lighter, sportier, more aerodynamic vehicles. It's already starting to happen, and the new Prius body, most folks agree, is a very nice looking car.

That article resulted in an email from another Floridian: Paul Liddle, the owner of EVPorsche, who is electrifying Porsches, Lamborghinis, and even a Rolls Royce! And I thought, "WOW, an electric Porsche 911, cool!"

And then I thought, what about the vroom-vroom? You know, racing the engine at a stop sign, popping the clutch with the pedal to the metal, speed shifting up from first to the top gear, and getting thrown back in the seat as the engine roars ahead until you’ve reached a hundred or so. And then there’s the downshifting, again the engine revving up as you save the brakes and come to a slower speed or a stop.

I’ve driven a few sports cars, and that was part of the thrill: coordinating the clutch with the gears (as fast as possible), pedal to the metal, complete control, and the vrooooom. Well, according to Paul’s website, you’ll get fast, smooth, quiet acceleration with some optional gear shifting. Your Porsche will still act like it’s on steroids, but without the “feel” and sound of a piston engine car. If I could afford one, I’d ask Paul to add a recording of engine noises that correspond with the increase or decrease in speed, with speakers in and outside the car for make believe. Add in a little mechanism to vibrate the car just a bit, and I’d be in hog heaven.