Hasta La Gadget!

Don’t get us wrong, we think electric vehicles are totally rad and all, but there’s still the whole recharging thing that makes us a little wary. That’s why we’re stoked to hear that Better Place’s first battery swap station for EVs (and not just special Japanese cabbies) has officially opened its doors in Israel… for owners of the Renault Fluence Z.E. All it takes is an RFID card to enter the carwash-esque structure, and robots from below swap out your empty battery for a fully charged alternative while you occupy yourself for three minutes. No word on how much it’ll cost for the opportunity, but we’ve got an inkling it won’t be cheap. Fortunately, we’ve got apps and “get you home” guarantees for that additional peace of mind, but we do hope the concept eventually makes its way over to our shores. Of course, we’re also still waiting for eternal battery life in all of our electronics, but until that day comes invisible robots changing batteries for us will suffice.

Israel gets its first EV battery swap station, makes charging stations obsolete originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Truth About Cars  |  Better Place  | Email this | Comments

We’ve been covering the Volvo C30 Electric pretty closely because, well, let’s face it: it’s one of the few genuinely good looking electric cars in the pipeline. Sure, the Focus Electric looks fine, despite the excessive dental gear, and Tesla‘s products are certainly saucy, but for every Roadster in the world there are a couple-dozen Leafs and Prii putting their owners to sleep.

The C30 Electric, however, looks almost exactly like the C30 non-electric, which is a good thing, and it drives more or less like one too. About four months after we first saw the thing Volvo finally tossed us the keys, in the process taking us on a tour of Indianapolis-based Ener1, source of the battery packs that make the thing move. Yes, it’s a funky little Swedish car with a big ‘ol American battery pack. Read on for our impressions.

Continue reading Volvo C30 Electric test drive (video)

Volvo C30 Electric test drive (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

There are those predicting doom and gloom for electric cars when temperatures drop, and those steadfastedly saying that frigid batteries will not be the end of the road when it comes to fuel-free transportation. The reality lies somewhere in between, but Volvo’s at least doing the right thing: testing the frozen snot out of its C30 Electric way up north of the Arctic Circle. When things get really cold the car can use an ethanol-powered heater to keep things comfortable for both drivers and batteries and, at temperatures down to -30C (that’s -22F), the car has proven to manage a range of 80km, which is just a tick under 50 miles. Given the hatchback is rated for 100 miles of range when warmer that’s not exactly good news for Eskimo environmentalists who love Swedish cars. Still, it also must be said those are rather extreme conditions, as shown in the video below, which also includes footage of some extreme elk reindeer herding.

Update: Viktor wrote in to let us know that the creatures in the video are indeed reindeer, not elk. The person responsible for such an egregious factual error has been sacked, and a sizeable donation made to the “Save the Reindeer from Swedish EVs Foundation.”

Continue reading Volvo’s C30 Electric freezes north of the Arctic Circle, chases reindeer and loses half its range (video)

Volvo’s C30 Electric freezes north of the Arctic Circle, chases reindeer and loses half its range (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink All Cars Electric  |  Volvo (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

The upcoming Tesla Model S has a big ‘ol slab of batteries that make up the floor of the thing, shown above, but Tesla CEO Elon Musk says that sort of technology just won’t do in the long run. He thinks that the days of the battery are numbered, and that it’s the humble capacitor that will “supercede” traditional cells and let our future selves roam wild in our Teslas, largely free of range anxiety. Ultracapacitors are basically big, powerful versions of the capacitors that make all electronics work. Like a battery they hold a charge, but unlike a battery they can be juiced up almost instantaneously and suffer virtually no degradation through cycle after cycle. The big problem now is energy density, where batteries still have their capacitive competition beat, but hopefully that’ll change soon — maybe in time for another of Musk’s predictions to come true.

Tesla CEO Musk says the days of batteries are numbered, ultracapacitors will power us into the future originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Autoblog Green  |  GigaOm  | Email this | Comments

If you don’t have far to go, an electric car can make a lot of sense. You know what group of people doesn’t have far to go? People who live on an island, that’s who. For this reason we’re feeling some synergistic love as the State of Hawaii partners with AeroVironment, a company that also makes some goofy looking UAVs for DARPA, to deploy up to 320 public EV charging stations plugs across Kauai, Hawaii Island, Maui, and Oahu. All will be 240v Level 2 units that can charge an average EV in between four to eight hours. That’s plenty of time to grab your board and get worked on some swell — or to work on your tan if you’re feeling a little less aggro.

Update: Dan wrote in to let us know that Better Place is also getting a piece of this pie, securing $854,000 for “charging stations on all islands and the introduction of EVs to a rental car fleet.”

Continue reading Hawaii funding deployment of up to 320 public EV chargers, islander Leafs say ‘mahalo’

Hawaii funding deployment of up to 320 public EV chargers, islander Leafs say ‘mahalo’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 22:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  AeroVironment  | Email this | Comments