Jun 15

When Dean Kamen unveiled the Segway® Personal Transporter (PT) on ABC’s Good Morning America, he described the machine as “the world’s first self-balancing human transporter.” When you look at the machine in motion, you get an idea of what he’s talking about. Unlike a car, the Segway PT only has two wheels, yet it manages to stay upright by itself. Continues below…

Segway XT

Segway up the World’s Steepest Street

To move forward or backward on the Segway PT, the rider just leans slightly forward or backward. To turn left or right, the rider simply moves the LeanSteer frame left or right. You get the sense of power and speed, yet you also feel a sense of safety and absolute control. It all feels natural, safe, and instinctive.

The Segway PT can take you places that a car or bicycle can’t - including inside many stores, office buildings, businesses, airports, elevators, and trains. Although they’re ideal for short jaunts, Segway PTs can travel as far as 24 miles/38 km on a single battery charge, depending on terrain, payload, and riding style.

Like any invention that’s ahead of its time, the Segway PT is often misunderstood. The gleeful smiles of Segway PT riders may have created an impression that this is …well…a toy. But make no mistake. While a Segway PT is incredibly fun to ride, it is serious transportation designed for today’s world.

Jun 15
(AP) Paul Feeney didn’t commute with the Segway his parents gave him for Christmas in 2005 until he moved close to work this spring. The battery-powered, energy-efficient scooter makes the 1.4-mile commute fun, the 35-year-old Sun Microsystems sales representative said.

It also made his commute a lot less expensive.

When the Segway Personal Transporter came out in 2001, inventor Dean Kamen said the self-balancing vehicles would revolutionize short-distance travel. At first, however, they appealed mostly to police, mall security crews and airport personnel.

With gas prices escalating, sales are growing. One Segway dealer identified as one of its top five in the U.S. - Riva Motorsports of Pompano Beach, Fla. - sold almost 200 in 2006, 250 in 2007 and 175 in the first five months of 2008, said Riva spokesman Matt Sermarini.

“Anything that seems to be economical on fuel or doesn’t use fuel at all, people are definitely researching and buying,” Sermarini said.

Jared Cavalier, the Columbus Segway dealer who sold Feeney his scooter, said the increased interest has allowed him to open stores in Toledo and Cincinnati this year.

“These last few months have been fantastic,” Cavalier said. “We unbox them and they go out the door the same week.”

The self-balancing, standup scooters are getting more attention all around. Two “catcalls” are the most popular, Feeney said.

“People yelling, ‘Dork!’ and people yelling, ‘How much does that cost?’”

The Segway’s $5,000 price tag and its geekiness - they were among many targets of Weird Al Yankovic’s parody “White & Nerdy” in 2006 - are probably the biggest limits on its popularity, Feeney said.

James Houchard, an early customer in Ohio who now owns three Segways with his wife, said he tells people who stop him that he sees no difference in his electric bill.

“People always (wanted) to know how they work and what they do, but now I’ve had people ask about gas and say, ‘Is that a lot cheaper?’” said Houchard.

(AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)

Left: Jared Cavalier, owner of Segway of Ohio in Columbus, answers questions from customers Jim Hair, right, and Bill Hodges, Thursday, June 5, 2008.

Houchard, 56, said they like the energy savings, but when he mentions what the scooters cost, it’s usually a surprise.

“Five-thousand dollars is an issue,” Bedford, N.H.-based Segway Inc. president and CEO Jim Norrod acknowledged - though he predicted recent years’ sales growth rate of 40 percent to 50 percent to continue in 2008.

Dealers have seen a further uptick of 30 percent to 40 percent in walk-in traffic in the past month as people look for antidotes to expensive gasoline, according to Carol Valianti, a spokeswoman for Segway Inc.

The privately held company does not release sales data.

For now, the energy savings seem to be Segway’s strongest selling point.

Since buying a Segway in April, Kalispell, Mont., resident John O’Connor estimates, he has saved at least $100 on gas for commuting.

Enough charge to make the four-mile round trip to his job with telecommunications provider CenturyTel costs 4 cents, he said.

“Gas prices are going up, and it just turns my stomach. So I thought, ‘I’m done - I’m not going to do it anymore,’” said O’Connor, 53. He and his wife are selling one of their automobiles.

Segways don’t completely cure the pain at pump. They need a charge after about 25 miles, can’t protect riders from the elements or carry much cargo and have a top speed of 12.5 mph.

“I could probably ride 10 minutes in 10-below-zero weather and not get so cold that I couldn’t stand it. If the trip was a lot longer, I probably wouldn’t want to do it,” said O’Connor.

Richard Doherty, an analyst with the Envisioneering Group research firm who has followed the Segway market for several years, said interest started rising in California when gas hit $4 a gallon there early this year.

“When SUV owners start driving slowly to save precious drops of gas, using a Segway looks more and more appealing - especially for middle-of-the-day and weekend trips near home,” said Doherty.

The vehicle’s price is coming into range, said Doherty.

“They’re saying that a Segway now costs about what you’d pay for the annual maintenance on many car models,” he said. “It just makes sense, if it’s fair weather and you can make your trips by Segway.”

Jun 5

Tesla’s groundbreaking distinction is under its carbon-fiber skin. The $98,000 Tesla is the first production high-performance electric car. It is powered entirely by electricity, a plug-in that will never use a drop of gasoline. And it’s billed as being able to go 221 miles in mixed city/highway driving on a full battery charge.

It’s not about promises that the Tesla will deliver pin-you-back-in-your-seat acceleration — 0 to 60 miles per hour in a Ferrari-like 3.9 seconds — or its sexy appearance.

The sports car from San Carlos-based Tesla Motors has European sex appeal with power to match that defies the image of electric vehicles as poky carts for golf courses or senior villages.

Tesla is being touted as the first of a wave of electric cars that will bring the most profound change in the auto industry since the first Model T rolled off Ford Motor’s (F) assembly line 100 years ago. From Toyota (TM) to General Motors, (GM) the quest for clean air and independence from foreign oil is leading to the wall socket.

“It’s in the vanguard of the electric car revolution that is coming,” proclaims Elon Musk, the digital-age tycoon who is Tesla Motors chairman and largest shareholder of Tesla Motors.





Jun 5

Robert Schoenberger, auto writer for The Cleveland Plain Dealer, takes the new ultra-compact, high-mileage Smart Car for a test drive. Website http://www.smartusa.com/





Jun 5

Toyota (Prius) and GM (the GM Volt and the Saturn Vue) seem to be in a race as to who will provide the first mass-produced plug-in-hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV). The backfit market is building options coming for plug-in conversions for existing hybrids.

But what about the tens of millions of normal, internal-combustion engines out there? Is there any hope for them?

If Poulsen Hybrid is to be believed, the answer is a resounding “yes!” The Poulsen Hybrid Power Assist System “creates a PHEV by retrofitting electric motors, DC motor controllers, storage batteries and an on-board charger to a conventional new or used automobile.”

This electric system would be used for maintaining speed, after acceleration:

The development is based on the observation that only 10-15 horsepower is required to propel a compact or mid-size automobile along a level road at a steady 60-70 mph. leading to the conclusion that this relatively small amount of electric power would be able to cope with 70-85% of normal driving, only aided by the combustion engine during start up and when extra energy is required for acceleration and hill climbing.

The systems puts hybrid electric motors on the outside of the rear wheels with an on-board charger.

Poulsen’s system is expected to debut on the market next month — $3,300 for purchase and $600 for professional installation.

Mark me intrigued but questioning. For example,

  • This system doesn’t have regenerative braking, thus one is simply trading the cost of gasoline for electricity. At $4,000, a break-even point comes well after saving 1,000 gallons of gasoline. Thus, how much gasoline is really saved as this system basically moves the ICE to idling while the electricity handles acceleration.
  • The addition of this system outside the car will increase wind drag. A meaningful amount? Don’t know.
  • Also, some basic safety questions must arise. What are the implications for adding these systems outside the car?

But I’m still pretty intrigued with this ingenious approach to tackling the challenges of the huge existing fleet of internal-combustion engine vehicles and moving miles from gasoline to electricity.

Widespread adoption of PHEVs can reduce GHG emissions from vehicles by more than 450 million metric tons annually in 2050 — equivalent to removing 82.5 million passenger cars from the road.

There is an abundant supply of electricity for transportation, and a 60% U.S. market share for PHEVs would use seven to eight percent of grid-supplied electricity in 2050. PHEVs can improve nationwide air quality and reduce petroleum consumption by 3 million to 4 million barrels per day in 2050.

But do we have 43 years to do this? Why not start with today’s automobiles




Jun 4

Who Killed the Electric Car? Offical Sony Classic Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/

It was among the fastest, most efficient production cars ever built. It ran on electricity, produced no emissions and catapulted American technology to the forefront of the automotive industry. The lucky few who drove it never wanted to give it up. So why did General Motors crush its fleet of EV1 electric vehicles in the Arizona desert?

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? chronicles the life and mysterious death of the GM EV1, examining its cultural and economic ripple effects and how they reverberated through the halls of government and big business.

The year is 1990. California is in a pollution crisis. Smog threatens public health. Desperate for a solution, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) targets the source of its problem: auto exhaust. Inspired by a recent announcement from General Motors about an electric vehicle prototype, the Zero Emissions Mandate (ZEV) is born. It required 2% of new vehicles sold in California to be emission-free by 1998, 10% by 2003. It is the most radical smog-fighting mandate since the catalytic converter.

With a jump on the competition thanks to its speed-record-breaking electric concept car, GM launches its EV1 electric vehicle in 1996. It was a revolutionary modern car, requiring no gas, no oil changes, no mufflers, and rare brake maintenance (a billion-dollar industry unto itself). A typical maintenance checkup for the EV1 consisted of replenishing the windshield washer fluid and a tire rotation.

But the fanfare surrounding the EV1’s launch disappeared and the cars followed. Was it lack of consumer demand as carmakers claimed, or were other persuasive forces at work?

Fast forward to 6 years later… The fleet is gone. EV charging stations dot the California landscape like tombstones, collecting dust and spider webs. How could this happen? Did anyone bother to examine the evidence? Yes, in fact, someone did. And it was murder.

The electric car threatened the status quo. The truth behind its demise resembles the climactic outcome of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express: multiple suspects, each taking their turn with the knife. WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? interviews and investigates automakers, legislators, engineers, consumers and car enthusiasts from Los Angeles to Detroit, to work through motives and alibis, and to piece the complex puzzle together.

WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR? is not just about the EV1. It’s about how this allegory for failure—reflected in today’s oil prices and air quality—can also be a shining symbol of society’s potential to better itself and the world around it. While there’s plenty of outrage for lost time, there’s also time for renewal as technology is reborn in WHO KILLED THE ELECTRIC CAR?




Jun 4

Cars.com’s Joe Wiesenfelder walks you through the 2008 Toyota Prius.


Toyota Prius - High Tech

MSN Cars test drive of the Toyota Prius

100 MPG Toyota Prius! www.CalCars.org





Jun 4

A Japanese vehicle manufacturer unveiled the prototype of a new electric motorbike carrying a hybrid magnetic motor, which can run almost noiselessly up to 180 kilometres (112 miles) on one charge.

Tokyo-based Axle Corporation says that the battery of the next-generation electric vehicle motorbike can be charged at home, in the same way as a cellular phone. It takes a little over 6 hours to fully charge the battery, and the vehicle’s maximum speed is capable of reaching 150 kilometres per hour (93 miles per hour).

The company says the futuristic motorbike enjoys high energy efficiency thanks to a state-of-the-art magnetic motor which is a hybrid between a electromagnet and a permanent magnet. The new motor, called SUMO, short for “super motor,” is housed inside the bike’s rear wheel. The manufacture says the new motor is seven-times more cost efficient than gas-powered scooters.

Daisuke Ito, a professional racer who test rode the EV-X7 prototype, said it could potentially replace machines we now see in motor races. “I just feel that in the near future, we’ll be seeing these kinds of electric motorbikes running all around town. And when that happens, conventional vehicles could disappear from motor racing, too, and well be competing only in electric vehicles.”