80-mph electric car to go on sale this summer in the US
May 8, 2008 by Lisa Zyga
Green Vehicles´ battery-powered TRIAC can reach speeds of 80 mph. Credit: Green Vehicles.
Green Vehicles, a company based in San Jose, California, has recently revealed that it will begin selling two lithium-ion-powered electric vehicles early this summer. The three-wheeled TRIAC is a highway-capable electric car (or oversized covered trike, depending on how you look at it) that can reach speeds of 80 mph. There's also the BUCKSHOT, an electric all-purpose work truck designed for heavy-duty, durable use.
With the two models, the company hopes to liven up the electric vehicle market by focusing on being environmentally friendly and affordable. The TRIAC, which has a five-speed transmission, will sell for an estimated $20,000. Price information on the BUCKSHOT, which has a three-speed transmission, has not yet been released.
Both car and truck run on a 20kW AC motor, and have onboard chargers that can be plugged into a 120V or 240V outlet. Green Vehicles says that the TRIAC can run for about 100 miles on a full charge when driven at an average speed of 45 mph.
Regarding the BUCKSHOT, the company says that "this is a true work truck, with close attention paid to payload capacity, torque, and durability. For deliveries, the BUCKSHOT can come with a lockable cargo shell; for construction, a steel lumber rack; and for all-purpose functionality, a steel body with an extra-long bed and an ample passenger cabin." They suggest that the truck could be attractive to universities, businesses and municipalities.
Green Vehicles also revealed that they are working on two neighborhood electric vehicles (NEVs) called the Microwatt and the Moose. The company hopes to bring these low-speed, short-distance electric vehicles to market in the fall.
More information: www.greenvehicles.com (full Web site coming soon)
via: AutoblogGreen
Sep 16, 2009 |
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Shocking to some that the best green vehicle move is to buy an old large used vehicle and drive it very sparingly.
It's not about miles per gallon but about MILES per vehicle. And ANY new vehicle is an unneeded burden on the environment, however powered.
When a person buys a brand new hybrid or electric car they conveniently overlook the fact that their fat SUV usually gets bought by someone that really wants it(kinda obvious) and will probably drive it ALOT. If you think about it, this is the worst possible scenario.
A better scenario would be to make it hip to have an old car, tune it up and drive it very, very little. It's the old used cars and the energy needs of BUILDING new cars that're killing us. Not the difference between the 28 mpg new gas car and the 40 mpg new hybrid. That's more hype n' hip than smart n' green.
Pass it on.
Unfortunately, as more efficient automobile engines were developed, the public squanders this by wanting bigger, heavier cars and/or driving the same miles (or more) per year.
So, here's how it goes: the recession passes(as they all do after about 18 months), gas prices stabilize around $4.50 a gallon(after spiking just over $6), we all realize that we can buy a really cool giant house even further out, and since we all have these cool new high mileage cars, we all move and drive even farther every day. We sit fat and happy until the next economic burp. And then...
But the electric car will save us! Who cares what it takes to generate the electricity! It happens someplace far away where I can't see it or smell it! And the electric company won't take advantage of me and my family's dependence on them for EVERYTHING! Will they?
But all that really matter is how hip I feel until the lease runs out anyway. Sign me up!
If we each did something more than just talking about the problems, and who we think caused them, then perhaps the world WOULD change.
We should all be ashamed of ourselves for misleading our children into thinking that we can have no effect on the slither of an atmosphere which surrounds our planet. We have been bad custodians of this beautiful planet we control, and will not survive as a species if we don't smarten up!
Electric does not need a 5 speed transmission. Look at the Tesla. If they put a big enough electric motor in it, the torque would move the car from a stop just as easily as it could from 100 mph to 120mph.
And they need more batteries too. Ranges of 100 miles is insufficent.
And why is it so ugly? Everyone knows how to make a sweet looking car, but they seem to have made it ugly just make it more undesireable. No don't get a chrome covered babe magnet that gets 2MPG when you can get something that will make sure you're still a virgin at 40, but you get 500mpg.
Come on. The car body is a plastic shell regardless. Why can't you make it look good and get decent milage?
Even if we develop solar power to a level that provides all our power needs, there is still the issue of resource division. With our current mental abilities it seems like we will keep going until we are replaced by an evolution to a new species that can better balance personal needs and common public needs. See you in a million years.
If people car pooled or if people were allowed to use their cars as taxis, taking money from riders to work, commuting costs would drop significantly.
Also, with an electric car, how will governments collect 'fuel' taxes?
And is it also just too obvious that the greenest thing to do would be to retrofit used pickups rather than consume more resources building something NEW?
Is it just me?
But before we go "all electric" why not crawl before we learn to walk. Way back after WWII, Beechcraft(the aircraft company) built a prototype car with a small gas motor in the trunk that powered an electric motor at each wheel. Surely with today's technology we can do something along these lines that would rock.
Diesel-electrics can power railroad trains and massive ships. I see a TV spot every night that tells me how this gigantic railroad train runs more efficiently than a Civic Hybrid. Dah. Why not scale that technology down to something I can drive?
Considering the range of possibilities that can emerge in a casual forum like this, the current crop of electric and hybrids are distinctly un-inspiring.
Just thinkin.
It's just you. A pickup truck is hardly an efficient vehicle and in order to get a decent range you'll need hundreds of pounds of batteries. It's dubious whether most homes could even supply enough juice to charge that thing over night.
Just whinning.
The only thing that would make me even consider an electric car would be it's range per charge.
It's got to last at least 500 miles I would say.
Also, do these car batteries suffer like other batteries and hold less and less charge?
20 mile charge after 1 year be nice... lol
I can imagine a very tiny gas or natural gas engine running generators that power two electic motors. One at each end. The engines could easily be muffled to make very little noise. It seems like this should even make a good race car.
Add some batteries, if you must, to clean it up a bit. But I don't like the weight. Battery technology is nowhere near ready for prime-time. But it seems there are so many other solutions that are being ignored in order to get us into micro-death-trap-electrics that can't get us home from a good road trip.
Just havin' fun.
I'm sorry for sounding so mean, but what on earth are you living in Alaska for? I visited Fairbanks for a month and I must say, there is no reason to live there. Alaska has to be the worst for recycling practices and total waste of resources. Other than the Military base, an oil pipeline and some weak tourism, what are the rest of the people doing up there except drinking yourselves to death? (For the rest, Alcoholism is a massive problem throughout most nothern communities.)
Um... If you look at the cost equvalent of miles per dollar at todays electric and gas costs, this car doesn't get 80 mpg, it'll get closer to 200 mpg. You get an awful lot of kW from the $4 it costs for one gallon of gasoline, and that will take an electric car much further than that gasoline does.
And even if you put that in a far more powerful electric car, you'd get a nice sporty feel of a Porche, but still get 150 mpg or so.
There's a British car company doing the locomotive style hybrid drivetrain thing in quite possibly the sexiest package I've yet seen - www dot lightningcarcompany dot co dot uk - 700bhp, anyone?
- now THAT is what I want to see more of please physorg, not well-meaning plastic tricycles.
3 hour charge too (on 3 phase power) Nice.
15K GBP as a deposit. I wonder the final price.
This car is part of the new thought that we are bringing to the world, "how can we help the planet survive?". It's an important step. A three wheeled car can be licensed as a motorcycle, and drive in the carpool lane in cities. Even better! Electricity does need to be generated, but there is an economy of scale. Even a coal fired electric generating plant is more efficient than a automobile engine in terms of pollution and efficiency.