We Want Scum

A green thumb in Texas has figured out a more efficient way to produce algae. While ordinarily known as "pond scum" and not something you would want to produce in bulk, algae turns out to be one of the most efficient ways to produce biomatter for ethanol/biodiesel production. And not just a little better -- they're claiming about 2000 times more output per acre of the next-best crop (soybeans).

New Player?

I'm not sure if they're actually a new player, but this is the first I've heard of it. The Aptera is a three-seater electric with a gas-electric hybrid option. Admittedly, it's not as sexy as a Tesla or as practical as a Phoenix, but at just under $30k it is significantly more affordable than either one, and it also has appeal in that it doesn't look like anything else out there.

It comes in pure-electric for $27k and electric-gas for $30k, so for that difference the hybrid seems like a no-brainer. It gives you a car that's electric for the 90% of the time you drive around town and still has the long-trip ability of a gas-powered car, as well as peace of mind if you're pushing the limits of your range.

Drivers, Connect Your Batteries

The Tesla roadster is now in production. It sounds like the initial units will all go to people that have reserved them. I'm pretty sure Joahnna wants one, but for $100k a pop, I think I'll wait for a bit.

Flying for $0.30/hour

It seems that battery technology is getting close to the point where electric aircraft are viable. A guy at Oshkosh announced that he has an electric ultralight that's ready today. The battery pack lasts for about 2 hours, and a full charge costs about $0.60 in electricity.

Can't fly for much cheaper than that!

Phoenix Motors

Phoenix Motors is making a smallish pure-electric SUV. Got this from a Register article about new quick-charging batteries, which are used by both the Phoenix and the British Lightning. The Lightning appears to be taking a page from Tesla's book and going for the less cost-sensitive sports car market, but Phoenix is taking a more interesting tack and selling them to fleets and municipalities, both of which are more sensitive to operations cost than capital costs.

Alternative Fuel Day

I was reading an article about new batteries that run off of sugar water. Similar principle to a fuel cell, except using a fuel that neither leaks through its container or explodes. Apparently can run on almost any sugary liquid (not Coke, though -- the carbonation screws it up).

Then, to top that, Sachin sent me a link to a car that runs on air. How much cheaper than that can you get? Of course, with a top speed of 40mph, it's not going to get you anywhere in a hurry.

DIY Electric Car

I was spending some quality time Googling today, and ran across this kit to do an electric conversion of a Porsche 914. It could make an interesting summer project, and of course it would be available much earlier than the Tesla...

I was a bit worried when I didn't see any 914s for sale on Trader Online (finally found one in Arizona), but apparently that's because they're just not expensive enough. A quick search on Craigslist found 7-8 of them for under $3000.

First need to get the Morgan out of the garage, though.

It's Electric

Over the Christmas holiday, I watched "Who Killed the Electric Car", an interesting documentary on the history of electric vehicles in the 90s. The story primarily covers the vehicles created after California's historic mandate to make 2% of all vehicles on the road zero-emissions vehicles, and the subsequent development of the EV-1 by GM.

The short answer to the film's title question is that GM killed it, and in a very emphatic manner. When the leases on the EV-1s expired, GM did not allow owners to renew the lease or purchase the cars, but instead forced them to return every EV-1 to GM, where they destroyed. No question about it, GM wanted those vehicles gone.

One of the lessons I picked up from this is how easy it is to buy into hype. The EV-1 was a workable electric vehicle -- it had good acceleration, decent styling, and a range of 120 miles, which is good enough for any normal commuting. But shortly after the vehicles were coming out, many questions were raised about battery life, recycling, accident danger due to acid spills, total environmental impact, etc. And I remember giving these arguments some weight, since they are legitimate concerns.

The problem is, although these concerns are legitimate, they are also mostly non-issues when you dig into them. The batteries could be completely recycled, battery life is mostly a problem with lead-acid batteries rather than the NiMH batteries the EV-1 used, acid is far less dangerous in an accident than gasoline, and even if more coal-fired plants were built to provide the electricity, they still put less carbon in the atmosphere total than a gas burning car.

And whoever raised these issues, probably knew all that.

Ultimately, I think the problem was that the electric car was forced upon the manufacturers, and most companies are unwilling to promote a product that makes their existing product line obsolete. No existing car manufacturer wants to touch these for fear of making their existing cars look bad.

Which is why my hopes are with a couple new companies making next-generation electric cars with state-of-the-art battery technology. Tesla Motors, a new silicon-valley startup, is building a line of high-performance electric sports cars, with a range of about 250 miles. Full production won't start until 2008, and it will probably be a year or two after that until we see something a bit more affordable, but hopefully they'll have a sports sedan out in time to replace my Subaru STi.