Creation of an efficient network of charging stations for electric vehicles in United States is a key priority of the US Department of Energy, in order to make available to the public the necessary supporting infrastructure that will make possible a much wider use of electric vehicles, be they pure electric or hybrid ones. Los Angeles is in vanguard in supporting the building of the charging stations, and exactly in this city with the highest number of cars, happened on Friday, May 13, 2011 that the 500th charging station of the ChargePoint network was unveiled. Continue Reading
Category : Technology
Two companies operating in Denmark, ECTunes and the research institute DELTA SenseLab, issued last week in the town of Horsens a “White paper on external sounds for electric cars”. The document expresses the need for artificial sounds to be emitted by pure electric and hybrid vehicles in order to alert pedestrians and cyclists when vehicles travel inner city with speeds up to 25 km/h. The study suggests that for higher speeds there is no need for artificial sounds, as the rumor made by the tires and vehicles aerodynamics is enough for alerting people around. Continue Reading
Different car manufacturers among the most important in the world are offering to the customers different models of plug-in electric vehicles, which can be divided in two main different types: Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV), which are powered both by batteries and by an internal combustion engine, and pure electric plug-in vehicles (PEV), powered only by the batteries, which supply energy to the electric motor/motors. Each of them has its own advantages and weak points, PEVs have the advantage of being totally zero emissions vehicles, meanwhile PHVs work in zero emissions mode only in the first 40 km of travel, after which the fossil fuel engine enters in function and the emissions are unavoidable. Continue Reading
To mark the 125th anniversary of Carl Benz invention of the car, Mercedes-Benz is showing in different countries of the world, in a long trip of 18 thousand miles what is nowadays a major revolution in car manufacturing industry, three Mercedes-Benz fuel cell cars, called F CELL. The trip, currently under way, started in January and will continue till June this year. The hydrogen powered 100% zero emissions vehicles are currently not a widely used option among the manufacturers of the alternative fuel and environmentally-friendly vehicles. Most of these manufacturers have opted for pure electric or hybrid models. Continue Reading
With growing market share of electric vehicles of any sort, pure electric, plug-in or hybrid, the importance of future car battery is bound to grow to that extent that even today the saying is spread among car manufacturers that battery is the car. In the conventional cars with internal combustion engines the lead-acid battery was seen as a secondary item that could not influence the vehicle price and big car-maker companies never thought to produce them by themselves. Things can be drastically changed in a not so far away standing future. Continue Reading