Ruf Electric 911

The electric car tidal wave is becoming a tsunami with so many companies jumping into the fray. Things are definitely converging on electricity. We've seen BMW and Mercedes announce hybrid plans, GM is going there with the Volt, Toyota and Honda are already several generations into it.

The main obstacle has been, and still is battery technology. Though with Saft, Panasonic, Johnson Controls, Continental, and many others are working on it, how much progress will be made in the next year or two?

And when those batteries are suitable for automotive use and the technology accessible to niche players, think of how many more companies will be producing electric cars. Tesla is but one of many.

Ruf, the respected German firm that specializes in Porsches, has been working on an electric 911 of its own. So far it's not yet competitive with a gasoline powered 911, but it might just indicate where we are headed and what might be possible not long from now:

Vehicle to Grid Electric Infrastructure

Smart grids becoming a reality? Looks like Boulder, Colorado will be first. The sooner the better, though this article doesn’t give a definitive timeline. Have to complete the studies first.

MIT RoboScooter

This type of vehicle is going to play a major role in urban transportation in the future. All the technology is already here, well understood, and most importantly it's usable.

Scooters don't have to go very far, very fast, and they're light. Those factors combined make them one of the most practical applications for battery power which has far lower energy density than gasoline. Yet they're simple. The article brings up a good point about the perception that EVs won't be ready until they "have the range to travel cross-country", which is a stumbling block of perception and not available technology if we focus on using different modes of transportation for different types of trips. One size does not fit all, and scooters are well matched with present EV constraints.

The more advanced features discussed in the article such as folding frames and computer controlled wheels can wait. If simplicity and clean mobility is desired why not release this right now and start developing a market for them?

Hydrogen Falling Out of Favor

Policy needs to be set now for a long time to come. Yet if you look at all the rhetoric and proposals on the Federal and state levels, we’ve got a hodgepodge of all sorts of special interests clamoring for their piece of the action. With all these contenders jostling for position, someone’s going to fall off the wagon. And while I wouldn’t count it out, hydrogen looks like it’s been teetering a bit lately.

A headline this week from Automotive News (subscription required): “Hydrogen slips as a solution for the greening of autos”

The article contains a chart from the GAO (Government Accountability Office) which shows the current fuel production cost of hydrogen from renewable liquids as $4.40 per kilowatt-hour versus the US Department of Energy’s goal of less than $3 per kWh by the year 2017.

Does anyone see a problem with this? If it’s going to cost $3/kWh to make how much is it going to sell for? More right? And hydrogen is going to be used to do what in fuel cells? Make electricity. And for every 1 unit of hydrogen you put into a fuel cell, the theoretical maximum output you’ll get is 1 unit of electricity, but the reality will be somewhat less.

So how does this make sense when electricity is already less than $3 per kWh, the infrastructure to charge vehicles is further along than hydrogen refueling stations, and battery development will surely increase range to at least as good as hydrogen can get? Plus how is the infrastructure for hydrogen refueling going to come about?

All I’m saying is the sooner we start focusing efforts on programs that have the best chance of success because they are fundamentally sound and leverage existing technology and resources, the sooner we will come to a viable solution.