Saturday, June 18, 2011

New posts from Gas 2.0!

New posts from Gas 2.0!

New Tech Promises Fully-Charged EVs in Just 5 Minutes

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 10:30 AM PDT

Once you start talking about 200 miles of driving in-between 5 minute “pit-stops”, it’s not really clear if you’re talking about gas or electric-powered cars – and that’s the whole point of developing quick-charging and battery-swapping stations for EVs:  you can get all of the green, none of the sacrifice.  Now, you can have that very thing!

Last week, Kanno Tomio and his team of engineers in Tochigi, Japan have patented and demonstrated a new, ultra-fast charging system that fully charged a (production-spec.) Nissan Leaf’s battery pack in under 300 seconds (that’s 5 minutes to you and me).

In order to transfer the huge amounts of electricity required to charge the Leaf so quickly, Tomi’s team made use of capacitors, which could power up their own charge over time, while still releasing huge amounts energy suddenly and, it should be said, cost-effectively (this is similar, in concept, to the KERS hybrid systems employed by current Formula 1 race teams).

Tomi’s capacitor-based charging stations can also be “set” to collect their reserves of power during off-peak times, and can be fueled themselves by Japan’s existing energy infrastructure without the need for special connections to be installed – another advantage to current “quick charge” systems which claim to be able to charge a car like the Leaf to 80% capacity in about 30 min (vs. 90% in less than 5).

The group expects to begin installing its ultra-fast chargers in homes and businesses in 2012 … and, yes, they do plan to offer them to the North American and European markets shortly thereafter.  No word (yet) on pricing.

Source:  Motorpasion.

Sneak Preview: Honda’s New, 2013 Plug-in Accord

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 08:25 AM PDT

Honda is on a bit of a Hybrid roll lately, having resumed production of its hybrid Insight and announced a new, 70 mph hybrid Fit Shuttle just this week alone.  What more, really, could anyone ask of Honda?

As Gas 2.0 editor Chris DeMorro put it, “another hybrid” – and here it is.  Sort of.

According to our friends at PluginCars.com, the Accord up there (which looks like any other late-model Accord plus a few stickers) is actually an all-electric capable plug-in hybrid, which the company will likely position as a more “mainstream-friendly” alternative to Toyota’s hybrid Camry and Chevy’s slightly smaller Volt.  Under the skin, the Accord sedan makes use of a two motor system (unlike Honda's current single-motor hybrid setup) combining a 120 kW traction motor with a 2.0 L four-cylinder engine, sending power to the wheels through a Honda-designed CVT transmission.

The plug-in Accord places its 6 kWh li-ion battery pack under the back seat, and is “about the size of a suitcase”.   As it sits in the prototype Accord (above) the package is good for a top speed of 60 mph, and an all-electric range of about 15 miles.  Honda believes this EV range will “satisfy about 70 percent of its users’ (driving needs).”

Source:  PluginCars.com
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