Recently in EV Electric Vehicles Category

Tesla booth at the North American International Auto Show,  (Till Jan. 24, 2010) in Detroit. On display is Tesla's 1,000th production car - a special Roadster Sport custom-painted in "Millennial White" with other unique details. This $175,000 car will be sold and Tesla will donate the full value to three Detroit area charities, the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation and several leading community organizations in Detroit.

Also on display is Roadster No. 750 - the only dirty car on the show floor, splattered in mud, salt and grime. Tesla employees drove this car straight into Cobo Hall after the 3,600-mile Roadster Road Trip from Los Angeles, demonstrating that the Roadster is a fun yet rugged all-season super car. This historic journey took the Tesla team through nine states, three times zones and two snowstorms - without a drop of gasoline. They gave rides to fans, taught people about Tesla technology and recruited students at college towns. The Tesla team charged the car at conventional electrical outlets in hotel parking lots, RV parks, and a few homes of friends and owners. The Tesla team chronicled the journey on their website , with photos and first-person blogs from their drivers.

750 met up with Very Orange Roadster Sport #684 for a tour around Detroit.

Up your fuel savings with a conversion kit of $5,000 ... big upfront costs, but the savings for the environment and as a rolling example of what's possible. Call a conversion dealer or look eagerly forward... electric cars are back!

Michigan Technological University and Wayne State Unviversity will be the first institutions to offer accelerated graduate courses for auto engineers on next-generation hybrid and battery technologies.

The Michigan Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth is partnering with the two universities to offer MAGM's first round of training that prepares automotive engineers for renewable energy jobs. The courses will be offered in the southeastern Michigan area.

"These courses are a terrific opportunity for engineers to learn about cutting edge hybrid and battery technology as part of the Green Jobs Initiative," said Granholm in a press release.

DELEG oversees the Michigan Green Jobs Initiative, which is designed to ensure the emerging industries and green economy have the trained workers they need. In response to the rapid growth in the renewable energy sector, DELEG collaborated with automotive manufacturing employers to establish the MAGM. This initial course offering is aimed at incumbent auto engineers, however unemployed workers who meet the pre-requisites may also be eligible.

MAGM is administered by a governing board made up of employers, education and training providers, the workforce development system, and state government. The academy's objective is to prepare individuals for emerging technologies in vehicle propulsion, component design, manufacturing and maintenance.

Workforce Investment for Emerging Industries

The Academy is offered under the Governor's No Worker Left Behind program, a plan to train 100,000 citizens in three years for jobs in high demand occupations and emerging industries. NWLB will provide up to two years of free tuition at any Michigan community college, university, or other approved training program for qualifying participants. As of June 30 more than 81,667 people have been put into NWLB training.

About the courses:

Advanced Propulsion for Hybrid Vehicles with Concentration in Battery Engineering. Sponsored by Michigan Technological University. A three-credit class offered in cooperation with the Engineering Society of Detroit and AVL, a developer of powertrains and vehicle simulation and test systems. The curriculum will focus on engineering skills that apply to next-generation hybrid and electric vehicles, with an emphasis on battery design and hands-on learning. Preference will be given to applications received by Aug. 19. The semester-long class begins Sept. 3. The course will be offered again in the spring semester. For more information, visit the training Web site or call 248-353-0735.

Advanced Battery Systems for Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Sponsored by Wayne State University. A four-credit graduate course level class team-taught by WSU engineering faculty, HEV engineers from Delphi and GM and battery scientists from Ovonic Battery. Bachelor of Science in Engineering or similar physical sciences area is required. Curriculum focuses in-vehicle electric energy storage systems, Battery system development and design for hybrid electric vehicles. Macomb Community College is also providing five HEVs for lab experiments.The class will begin meeting Sept.. The course will be also be offered for spring semester. For more information about this course, visit the Web site for the WSU College of Engineering or call CP Yeh, chair, Division of Engineering Technology, Wayne State University, at 313-577-0800.

The federal government will provide $2.4 billion in grants for the development of more fuel-efficient, battery-powered automobiles.

Obama made the announcement during a visit to a recreational vehicle manufacturing plant in Elkhart County, Indiana, which has been hard hit by the economic downturn.

The president said the plant, which makes recreational and hybrid vehicles, will receive a $39 million grant to build 400 advanced-battery electric trucks.

Obama's announcement was the latest in a series of administration initiatives designed to accelerate a nationwide transition to a "green economy."

In May, the president announced new fuel economy rules, including a requirement for passenger cars and light trucks to get an overall average of 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016. Obama has also been pushing Congress to move ahead with legislation placing a market-based cap on carbon pollution.

Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), a subsidiary of ECOtality, Inc. (OTCBB: ETLY), a leader in the clean electric transportation and storage technologies, announced recently it has been awarded an estimated $8 million from the California Energy Commission to support the deployment of charge infrastructure and electric vehicles (EVs) in the San Diego region as part of its "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Cost Share: Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program."

"As eTec's proposed project to the U.S. Department of Energy is anticipated to deploy up to 2,550 charging stations in the San Diego area, this additional funding from the California Energy Commission will allow for a substantial increase in the amount of charge infrastructure deployed in the region," said Don Karner, president, eTec. "We'd like to thank the California Energy Commission and the State of California for their support of the largest transportation electrification project ever and commend their strategic foresight in positioning California as a leader in electric transportation."

The California Energy Commission awarded funds to projects that successfully received federal funds from the U.S. Department of Energy's American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Transportation Electrification Funding Opportunity Announcement. On August 5, 2009 ECOtality's eTec was awarded $99.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to implement the largest deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure in U.S. history.

In eTec's proposed project to the U.S. Department of Energy, eTec is partnering with Nissan North America to deploy up to 5,000 Nissan LEAF EVs and approximately 12,750 charging stations throughout five states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.

The project will collect and analyze data characterizing vehicle use and charging patterns in diverse topographies and climate conditions, evaluate the effectiveness of charge infrastructure, and conduct trials of various revenue systems for public charge infrastructure. By testing and analyzing electric vehicle usage and charging patterns in a simulated mature charging environment, this project will foster the expansion of EV infrastructure that will be available for widespread EV use throughout the country.

The California Energy Commission award affirms the position of the State of California at the forefront of the electric transportation evolution and ensures that the San Diego region will have one of the most advanced EV charging infrastructures in the world," said Jonathan Read, president and CEO, ECOtality.

"As the eTec project undertakes to make America EV ready, stimulate job creation and enhance our energy independence, this additional funding will help us achieve these important objectives."

Regional project partner, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), will play an important role in the eTec project by evaluating demand and energy impacts of EVs on the electric grid, potential electric vehicle rate structures, smart grid interconnection requirements, distribution grid impacts of EV charging demand and provide consumer education in the San Diego area.

"As a strategic partner on the eTec project, we'd like to thank the California Energy Commission for its funding award to the transportation electrification project," said Debra L. Reed, president and chief executive officer of San Diego Gas & Electric. "With this award, we now have the resources available to make the San Diego region first in the nation when it comes to truly being plug-in ready for electric transportation."

In the San Diego region, partners for eTec's proposed project include San Diego Gas & Electric, San Diego Associations of Governments (SANDAG), San Diego Clean Fuels Coalition, San Diego Miramar College, Center for Sustainable Energy and American Lung Association (CA).

For more information about the California Energy Commission Notice of Proposed Award, please visit:

http://www.energy.ca.gov/contracts/PON-08-010_NOPA.PDF.

The final award amount may vary and is subject to ongoing contract negotiations with the California Energy Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy.

About eTec

Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation (eTec), a subsidiary of ECOtality, is a recognized leader in the research, development and testing of advanced transportation and energy systems. With over two decades of electric transportation experience, eTec has been involved in every electric vehicle initiative in North America since the 1990's. Utilizing its patented industry-leading charging algorithm, eTec operates the Minit-Charger line of battery fast charge systems for on-road electric vehicle, transit, material handling and airport ground support applications. For more information, please visit www.etecevs.com or www.minit-charger.com.

About ECOtality, Inc.

ECOtality, Inc. (OTCBB: ETLY), headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, is a leader in clean electric transportation and storage technologies. Through innovation, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, ECOtality accelerates the market applicability of advanced electric technologies to replace carbon-based fuels. For more information about ECOtality, Inc. please visit www.ecotality.com.

Intelligent Charging System for EVs

Ford Motor Company has developed an intelligent charging system that previews how its production vehicles will interact with the grid. The unnamed system enables all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners to restrict charging to when electricity prices fall below a certain threshold, or even "when the grid is using only renewable energy such as wind or solar power," according to Ford.

There's a natural synergy for customers to put solar on their homes and buy hybrids/EVs, who can then drive free of fossil fuel guilt.

In its ongoing testing of converted PHEV Ford Escapes, the company is leveraging communications systems it designed including SYNC, SmartGauge, and Ford Work Solutions. The vehicles are communicating with the grid through smart meters over a wireless network using the Zigbee protocol, but Ford hasn't committed to a network platform for its production vehicles.

Open Source Design Comes to Green

I've been waiting for the advent of "open source" strategies in design to hit the green and climate change arena.  It's coming... I wonder if Obama's approach to greening faster, stronger, better had anything to do with this strategy.

Ford said its final communications system will be designed to work with a variety of smart meters.

The first generation of EVs is likely to use a mix of proprietary and "open" standards that are still in development. Each company will likely offer some part of their charge management technology to others in hopes that it would become industry standard.

The batteries in the 21 test vehicles are from Johnson Controls-Saft, which will also be supplying the batteries for its production PHEV.

Ford will spend $14 billion over 7 years to retool to manufacture advanced vehicles.

Ford has lined up some impressive utilities to help with the tests, including Southern California Edison, American Electric Power, Progress Energy, and 10 others, which will each receive some of the test fleet.

The agreement is to continue testing for three years, which is interesting because the company plans to have a commercial PHEV for sale in 2012 -- you might think that testing of PHEV grid interaction would be moot at that point. Ford received $30 million in DOE grant money to pay for part of the testing.

Ford is rigorously testing PHEVs now, but the all-electric Ford Focus (due out a year earlier) is not being tested in a similar broad fashion. Is developing an EV easier than a plug-in hybrid (with its two systems for locomotion)?

SOURCE: courtesy of Matter Network.