Firlapalooza

I wrote previously about the idea of the electric car, citing such documentaries as ‘Who Killed the Electric Car’ (here),  and discussing the work of manufacturer Tesla Motors (here).  Here is some additional info on this interesting field that I learned recently.  After all, it would be nice to get away – at a reasonable price - from the widespread use of petroleum as a fuel source, and all its negative political and environmental effects.

First of all, there are currently developments for an ‘extended-range electric vehicle’, or ‘series hybrid‘ type of car.  Although predominantly electric-powered, this type of car makes up for the reduced distance range inherent in fully electric cars by featuring an on-board generator (ie. not an internal-combusion engine) which will charge up the battery when it runs out of power – not perpetual motion, but close (the fuel will eventually run out).  Unlike a hybrid, there is no direct connection between the engine and the wheels; the generator powers only the electric engine itself.  There is a lot of potential in this vehicle paradigm, since the generator can be replaced by other technologies as a power source (such as ethanol, diesel, and fuel cells).

And, although I highly disparaged General Motors in the concluding paragraph of this article for the fact that they cancelled production of the EV1 electric car without apparent justification, they seem to be making up for this shortsighted blunder with the development of the Chevrolet Volt.  Slated to be on the streets in 2010, this vehicle’s battery should give a battery-powered travel distance of 60 kilometers (more than most people’s commute), with an additional 1000km of available total range from its battery/generator system, and is chargeable from a wall socket.  Its $US30k price isn’t unreasonable either (especially compared with Tesla’s $US98k price tag, though as mentioned here, this vehicle is currently already in production).  Even Ford may have joined up this concept with its new idea for the Edge.  Chrysler has some good ideas too.

But even more interestingly, forgetting the big automakers, or the much-hyped Tesla, I recently learned of an electric car manufactured right here in Canada!  It’s called the ZENN (which stands for Zero-Emissions No-Noise).  Very slick, and intended to be used as an urban vehicle.  Check out this clip of a recent piece which appeared on the Rick Mercer Report.  Some caveats to this car, of course - the big one being that it is not yet permitted for sale in Canada (except for B.C.) due to the vehicle’s lower maximum speed (between 40 and 60km/h) and significantly slower bureaucrats at Transport Canada.  The ZENN has a range of 60km, and can be charged from a regular wall socket.  This article features a compilation of pictures and figures about the car.  The cost of this car should be around $12-$17k.  They are used in 45 of 50 states in the United States already – this municipal office, for example.

This ties into my own city as well; according to an article in our local paper, it appears that Sudbury’s mayor - just back from a keynote address at an environmental conference in Pittsburgh - is hoping to woo the ZENN car company to open up a plant here in the area, in an initiative to locate more green companies here.  It also mentions that the next generation of this vehicle will soon be made, with a 120km/h top speed and larger range of travel.

It’s becoming clear that the internal combustion engine is soooo 20th century.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008, and is filed under Automobiles, Environment, Sudbury Area. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. I reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments.