Good things lie ahead.

I have asked a few people to share their knowledge and expertise through this blog. I don't want this to be "my blog" but a community blog instead. If you feel that you have considerable knowledge about a particular subject that relates to electric vehicles, and would like to share that knowledge with the rest of the world, please contact me so you can post your own section in this blog.

In my research of EVs I have been paying special attention to Tesla Motors. I'm just fascinated with everything about that company. They are like the David against that stands for freedom of humanity against the many Goliaths of the world that want to control the fuel distribution, be it gasoline or hydrogen. Hydrogen technology, BTW, is well behind EV technology.

I was very impressed with a blog written by Martin Eberhard, CEO of Tesla Motors. His humor and sarcasm are can't be beat. I am referring to this blog:

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/

I like how Mr. Eberhard makes his blog so attractive and interesting to read! I have tremendous respect and admiration for him, everyone at Tesla Motors and everyone backing up Tesla Motors.

- Ricardo Parker

Good things lie ahead.

I have asked a few people to share their knowledge and expertise through this blog. I don't want this to be "my blog" but a community blog instead. If you feel that you have considerable knowledge about a particular subject that relates to electric vehicles, and would like to share that knowledge with the rest of the world, please contact me so you can post your own section in this blog.

In my research of EVs I have been paying special attention to Tesla Motors. I'm just fascinated with everything about that company. They are like the David against that stands for freedom of humanity against the many Goliaths of the world that want to control the fuel distribution, be it gasoline or hydrogen. Hydrogen technology, BTW, is well behind EV technology.

I was very impressed with a blog written by Martin Eberhard, CEO of Tesla Motors. His humor and sarcasm are can't be beat. I am referring to this blog:

http://www.teslamotors.com/blog2/

I like how Mr. Eberhard makes his blog so attractive and interesting to read! I have tremendous respect and admiration for him, everyone at Tesla Motors and everyone backing up Tesla Motors.

- Ricardo Parker

The extra cost of electric vehicles: batteries

A few people have pointed out that although the cost of electricity is substantially cheaper when charging an electric vehicle, that on EVs there’s the extra cost of batteries which can be expensive.

That is true. It’s difficult to factor in the cost of batteries in any Total Cost of Ownership analysis because batteries for EVs is a fairly new industry, so the manufacturing process and pricing is not yet broken down the way it is for oil (or gasoline). Companies selling Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) often face the challenge of giving a warranty to customer on a vehicle whose batteries they don’t exactly know how long will last and what kinds of problems will present under all the different conditions that can’t all be predicted. Batteries also perform different depending on how they’re used and cycled. The latter is a challenge that I believe will be solved by software, and developing that software also costs money.

Suffice to say, the price of batteries will decrease dramatically as the technology improves and the demand for electric vehicles. This is the catch-22 that all EV companies and enthusiasts have been dealing with: the batteries with the highest energy density are expensive, but it’s not until they are widely used that the industry will see a need and opportunity to serve more customers and thus produce more batteries, which brings up the price. We all wished a major player like GM had used their resources and power a decade ago to shift the market, but for some reason they don’t.

But don’t be discouraged! The world has a need for clean vehicles and more efficient means of transportation. The word is that China is about to flood the market with lithium-ion batteries for cars. I’ll research more on this topic. But the fact is that China is already producing several EVs whereas with ICEs they’re far behind in technology. So they actually have an incentive to develop EV technology since they’re closer to being number 1 in that field. It is my opinion that China will be the leader of the EV industry for years to come.

While many companies are known for making a lot of promises because of the power of EV technology, Chinese companies generally are found delivering products with little to no marketing abroad. And China as a nation has a need for cleaner vehicles – their densely populated cities are notorious for already high-levels of air pollution. How good is it to allow all your population to own and drive cars if in the process they get killed from carbon dioxide (or Global Warming)? I think the whole world is [slowly] reaching this conclusion.

- Ricardo Parker

China's Electric Car Moves Ahead

China's Wuhan University of Technology presented this experimental electric vehicle at Challenge Bibendum, saying it was designed with China's white-collar class in mind.

---

The extra cost of electric vehicles: batteries

A few people have pointed out that although the cost of electricity is substantially cheaper when charging an electric vehicle, that on EVs there’s the extra cost of batteries which can be expensive.

That is true. It’s difficult to factor in the cost of batteries in any Total Cost of Ownership analysis because batteries for EVs is a fairly new industry, so the manufacturing process and pricing is not yet broken down the way it is for oil (or gasoline). Companies selling Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEV) often face the challenge of giving a warranty to customer on a vehicle whose batteries they don’t exactly know how long will last and what kinds of problems will present under all the different conditions that can’t all be predicted. Batteries also perform different depending on how they’re used and cycled. The latter is a challenge that I believe will be solved by software, and developing that software also costs money.

Suffice to say, the price of batteries will decrease dramatically as the technology improves and the demand for electric vehicles. This is the catch-22 that all EV companies and enthusiasts have been dealing with: the batteries with the highest energy density are expensive, but it’s not until they are widely used that the industry will see a need and opportunity to serve more customers and thus produce more batteries, which brings up the price. We all wished a major player like GM had used their resources and power a decade ago to shift the market, but for some reason they don’t.

But don’t be discouraged! The world has a need for clean vehicles and more efficient means of transportation. The word is that China is about to flood the market with lithium-ion batteries for cars. I’ll research more on this topic. But the fact is that China is already producing several EVs whereas with ICEs they’re far behind in technology. So they actually have an incentive to develop EV technology since they’re closer to being number 1 in that field. It is my opinion that China will be the leader of the EV industry for years to come.

While many companies are known for making a lot of promises because of the power of EV technology, Chinese companies generally are found delivering products with little to no marketing abroad. And China as a nation has a need for cleaner vehicles – their densely populated cities are notorious for already high-levels of air pollution. How good is it to allow all your population to own and drive cars if in the process they get killed from carbon dioxide (or Global Warming)? I think the whole world is [slowly] reaching this conclusion.

- Ricardo Parker

China's Electric Car Moves Ahead

China's Wuhan University of Technology presented this experimental electric vehicle at Challenge Bibendum, saying it was designed with China's white-collar class in mind.

---

A world without oil (article)

This is an article that was on today's front page of The Independent, titled “A world without oil”.

The article is worth reading, especially for those not yet familiar with Peak Oil. I do think some day all people will realize how precious petroleum is, and we will consider our choice of internal combustion engines for moving cars an absurd way to use our finite oil.

The article says that our coal reserves (coal is a source of energy we’ll likely start relying on more heavily once oil starts becoming scarce) is enough to last 155 years. I believe that number is incorrect. It is incorrect because it does not account for the expected increase in demand worldwide. It is a fact that China, a country that's #2 in coal reserves, is importing coal for their energy needs.

Furthermore, the demand for coal will be much higher once it becomes evident that oil reserves are depleting – something the public has not been warned about.

So I’ll write Daniel Howden (the writer of this article) an email to bring this issue to his attention.

- Ricardo Parker

A world without oil (article)

This is an article that was on today's front page of The Independent, titled “A world without oil”.

The article is worth reading, especially for those not yet familiar with Peak Oil. I do think some day all people will realize how precious petroleum is, and we will consider our choice of internal combustion engines for moving cars an absurd way to use our finite oil.

The article says that our coal reserves (coal is a source of energy we’ll likely start relying on more heavily once oil starts becoming scarce) is enough to last 155 years. I believe that number is incorrect. It is incorrect because it does not account for the expected increase in demand worldwide. It is a fact that China, a country that's #2 in coal reserves, is importing coal for their energy needs.

Furthermore, the demand for coal will be much higher once it becomes evident that oil reserves are depleting – something the public has not been warned about.

So I’ll write Daniel Howden (the writer of this article) an email to bring this issue to his attention.

- Ricardo Parker

Reasons why YOU WANT an Electric Vehicle (number 1)

Reason #1:

You will save LOTS and LOTS of money.

You know all that money you spend on gasoline every week? You may be asking yourself “what money?” If you’re not feeling a pinch in your wallet or bank account every time you stop at the gas station, then that means you have become conditioned to an unnecessary expense in your life and you’re no longer aware of it! Keep in mind that driving does not need to cost you as much as it does now.

There was a time when using gasoline to drive cars was a good alternative because oil was plentiful and we didn’t have as many cars on the planet as we do today. The United States did not need to import oil until some time in the 1970’s. Ever since then, the US has been importing oil, and a large reason why the US is dependent on foreign oil is that the cars we drive use gasoline (or diesel). And boy, do we drive a lot, and do we drive big cars! Bigger cars are heavier, so they require more energy to move - gasoline in this case. The estimated number of automobiles in the US is somewhere around 400 million. The US population (according to a census done earlier this year) has reached just over 300 million people. That means we have more cars than people in this country!

This is not hard to imagine: if you look around you’ll see that it's not uncommon for people to own more than one car; sometimes 3 or more. And we’re not talking about affluent people, even people of lower income can often afford several vehicles. Look around in any US city and you'll see that we have cars parked and moving everywhere. The problem is that all these vehicles have the internal combustion engine (ICE), which uses gasoline or diesel.

Just to give you an idea of how much money you’re probably spending on fuel: my last car was a 1994 Acura Legend. That car gets between 20 and 27 MPG (in city and on the freeway). Because I drove it mostly in the city I got 20 miles per gallon of fuel consumption pretty much all the time. Even when I drove it on the freeway I was in stop-and-go traffic, so the fuel consumption remained the same. I know this because I have always tracked the gas mileage of all the vehicles I’ve ever owned.

20 MPG at the current average price of gasoline in the US of $3.25 a gallon gives us the following numbers for the cost of fuel of that Acura Legend:

• $0.16 spent on gasoline every mile I drive

• $2,031 spent on gasoline every 12,500 miles I drive (12,500 is an average mileage per year per car in the US)

• $16,250 spent on gasoline every 100,000 miles I drive (typically when the warranty on the engine and transmission expire).

• Over $50,000 spent on gasoline for the lifetime of that vehicle. That Honda gasoline engine is known for reliably getting over 300,000 miles, perhaps even 350,000 miles before it needs to be replaced.

So, this opens up a whole new discussion for us. Remember that the amounts of money above are based on the average $3.25 a gallon for gasoline. The cost of gasoline will only go up. This is because oil (as with any fossil fuel) is a finite resource and we’ve already used over half of it. Oil Industry Experts will say that we have not discovered a new major oil reserve in several decades. We have drilled for oil pretty much everywhere on the planet, used the most advanced technology for oil discovery, and it looks as though all of the oil that is underground was already found almost 40 years ago. Just like a glass of water gets empty when you drink it, oil reserves are dwindling and oil will eventually become nonexistent. Less oil available means higher gasoline prices from here on, even if demand stayed the same.

So the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a car will likely greatly increase from now on due to the predictable higher cost of gasoline at the pump. I.e., pumping gasoline will only cost you more and more. By maintaining the need for gasoline for driving you are at the mercy of the oil companies, and the oil companies know that the world production has already peaked. They will never sell gasoline or any other product at a loss (and neither would I or you if we were in their place).

Now, let’s speak about Electric Vehicles and focus on reason # 1: “you’ll save LOTS and LOTS of money”. EVs do not use gasoline to move. Instead, they use electricity. Electric motors are about 90% efficient. What that means is that about 90% of the energy in your battery pack gets transferred to the wheels. EVs are very energy efficient.

ICEs, on the other hand, are very inefficient. Gasoline engines are about 30% efficient (diesel engines are about 43% efficient). That means about 30% of the energy contained in gasoline gets transferred to the wheels. The rest 70% is wasted. The ICE is one of the most inefficient ways to transfer energy.

In practical terms, I think it’s fair to say you are spending less money on electricity because you are using most of the energy you're paying for, whereas with gasoline you’re wasting most of it. That is one aspect why you end up spending less money on “fuel” for your car with an EV. I say "fuel" because you're not putting fuel in your car, but instead, charging the battery pack in your car that is used to move it. So you have a battery pack on an EV, but you do not have a gasoline tank or exhaust pipe.

The other aspect is that the source of energy for EVs is different from gasoline. Electricity can be generated through a variety of different sources, and it ends up being delivered at your house, cheaper in terms of dollars, than the current cost of gasoline. Electricity can come from renewable energy sources, something we’ll discuss later. But for now, let’s just say that our electricity can come from coal, nuclear power, wind power, solar power, biomass, hydro power, geothermal, natural gas and even, oil. The truth is that any energy source can be converted to electricity, which makes EVs even more appealing as an alternative. You can't convert electricity to gasoline, however. So when we run out of oil (and we will), the ICE will probably be good only in museums.

Power Supply Profile of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) - Washington state's largest and oldest energy utility company

In some countries like Japan, about 50% of their electricity is generated from oil which they have to import since they produce none. In the US only a small percentage of our electricity comes from oil, which is a good thing because we have a real need to learn to rely on renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuel.

I dare say that we’d make more efficient use of oil if we burned it to produce electricity and then used that electricity to charge EVs, rather than what we do now which is to produce gasoline out of oil to power ICEs.

The cost of electricity to power a vehicle the size of the Acura Legend is about 4-5 cents per mile. It’s hard to estimate this number because such a vehicle does not exist. But with new EVs coming out and electric conversions being done, we’ll probably get a more accurate number. However, this number is safe to use, and it’s derived from light electric vehicles that are already in operation, such as the Kurrent. The Kurrent weighs about 1,750 pounds and costs about 2 cents of US electricity to drive.

5 cents of “fuel” per mile is a lot cheaper than 16 cents. It changes the total cost of ownership of a car. It lowers the cost of fuel for the same car (battery powered) to about 1/3.

And we’re not even talking about the damaging effects of ICEs through emissions and the contributing factor of carbon dioxide to Global Warming. We’re not even talking about what the money you spend on gasoline is ultimately funding in the countries it’s going to. So far, we’re only looking at the benefit of the money you will save for yourself by driving an electric vehicle. Heck, what can you do with 2/3 of the money you currently spend on gasoline? I honestly want to know!

EVs offer so many advantages that it's difficult to list them all. The lower cost of fuel is one of them. Keep in mind the TCO of a vehicle, which includes fuel and maintenance. A gasoline Hummer H1 or H2 will burn over 30,000 gallons of gasoline throughout its lifetime (it gets 10 MPG). Just the cost of all that gasoline is over $90,000 at current gas prices. That’s enough money to buy a Tesla Roadster, which is 100% electric. Some of the [wealthy] people buying the Tesla Roadster already have solar panels in their homes, which means they get to drive their EV without ever having to spend any money on fuel and without ever having to stop at a gas station.

Many people will say that the Tesla Roadster is an expensive vehicle, and that the current EVs that are available are “too expensive”. The cost of EVs will decrease with mass production, but I disagree that they are “too expensive”. When you consider the TCO and analyze all the numbers you start realizing that you owning and driving an EV costs a lot less than the gasoline and diesel cars we drive now. Most of the cost of an EV is up front, but once you buy one you don't have to spend so much.

Have the oil companies been successfully at training you to not notice that they are taking your money little by little every time you fuel your car? How badly do you want an alternative to gasoline? Please, do post your questions, your thoughts and your knowledge on the subject.

- Ricardo Parker

Reasons why YOU WANT an Electric Vehicle (number 1)

Reason #1:

You will save LOTS and LOTS of money.

You know all that money you spend on gasoline every week? You may be asking yourself “what money?” If you’re not feeling a pinch in your wallet or bank account every time you stop at the gas station, then that means you have become conditioned to an unnecessary expense in your life and you’re no longer aware of it! Keep in mind that driving does not need to cost you as much as it does now.

There was a time when using gasoline to drive cars was a good alternative because oil was plentiful and we didn’t have as many cars on the planet as we do today. The United States did not need to import oil until some time in the 1970’s. Ever since then, the US has been importing oil, and a large reason why the US is dependent on foreign oil is that the cars we drive use gasoline (or diesel). And boy, do we drive a lot, and do we drive big cars! Bigger cars are heavier, so they require more energy to move - gasoline in this case. The estimated number of automobiles in the US is somewhere around 400 million. The US population (according to a census done earlier this year) has reached just over 300 million people. That means we have more cars than people in this country!

This is not hard to imagine: if you look around you’ll see that it's not uncommon for people to own more than one car; sometimes 3 or more. And we’re not talking about affluent people, even people of lower income can often afford several vehicles. Look around in any US city and you'll see that we have cars parked and moving everywhere. The problem is that all these vehicles have the internal combustion engine (ICE), which uses gasoline or diesel.

Just to give you an idea of how much money you’re probably spending on fuel: my last car was a 1994 Acura Legend. That car gets between 20 and 27 MPG (in city and on the freeway). Because I drove it mostly in the city I got 20 miles per gallon of fuel consumption pretty much all the time. Even when I drove it on the freeway I was in stop-and-go traffic, so the fuel consumption remained the same. I know this because I have always tracked the gas mileage of all the vehicles I’ve ever owned.

20 MPG at the current average price of gasoline in the US of $3.25 a gallon gives us the following numbers for the cost of fuel of that Acura Legend:

• $0.16 spent on gasoline every mile I drive

• $2,031 spent on gasoline every 12,500 miles I drive (12,500 is an average mileage per year per car in the US)

• $16,250 spent on gasoline every 100,000 miles I drive (typically when the warranty on the engine and transmission expire).

• Over $50,000 spent on gasoline for the lifetime of that vehicle. That Honda gasoline engine is known for reliably getting over 300,000 miles, perhaps even 350,000 miles before it needs to be replaced.

So, this opens up a whole new discussion for us. Remember that the amounts of money above are based on the average $3.25 a gallon for gasoline. The cost of gasoline will only go up. This is because oil (as with any fossil fuel) is a finite resource and we’ve already used over half of it. Oil Industry Experts will say that we have not discovered a new major oil reserve in several decades. We have drilled for oil pretty much everywhere on the planet, used the most advanced technology for oil discovery, and it looks as though all of the oil that is underground was already found almost 40 years ago. Just like a glass of water gets empty when you drink it, oil reserves are dwindling and oil will eventually become nonexistent. Less oil available means higher gasoline prices from here on, even if demand stayed the same.

So the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of a car will likely greatly increase from now on due to the predictable higher cost of gasoline at the pump. I.e., pumping gasoline will only cost you more and more. By maintaining the need for gasoline for driving you are at the mercy of the oil companies, and the oil companies know that the world production has already peaked. They will never sell gasoline or any other product at a loss (and neither would I or you if we were in their place).

Now, let’s speak about Electric Vehicles and focus on reason # 1: “you’ll save LOTS and LOTS of money”. EVs do not use gasoline to move. Instead, they use electricity. Electric motors are about 90% efficient. What that means is that about 90% of the energy in your battery pack gets transferred to the wheels. EVs are very energy efficient.

ICEs, on the other hand, are very inefficient. Gasoline engines are about 30% efficient (diesel engines are about 43% efficient). That means about 30% of the energy contained in gasoline gets transferred to the wheels. The rest 70% is wasted. The ICE is one of the most inefficient ways to transfer energy.

In practical terms, I think it’s fair to say you are spending less money on electricity because you are using most of the energy you're paying for, whereas with gasoline you’re wasting most of it. That is one aspect why you end up spending less money on “fuel” for your car with an EV. I say "fuel" because you're not putting fuel in your car, but instead, charging the battery pack in your car that is used to move it. So you have a battery pack on an EV, but you do not have a gasoline tank or exhaust pipe.

The other aspect is that the source of energy for EVs is different from gasoline. Electricity can be generated through a variety of different sources, and it ends up being delivered at your house, cheaper in terms of dollars, than the current cost of gasoline. Electricity can come from renewable energy sources, something we’ll discuss later. But for now, let’s just say that our electricity can come from coal, nuclear power, wind power, solar power, biomass, hydro power, geothermal, natural gas and even, oil. The truth is that any energy source can be converted to electricity, which makes EVs even more appealing as an alternative. You can't convert electricity to gasoline, however. So when we run out of oil (and we will), the ICE will probably be good only in museums.

Power Supply Profile of Puget Sound Energy (PSE) - Washington state's largest and oldest energy utility company

In some countries like Japan, about 50% of their electricity is generated from oil which they have to import since they produce none. In the US only a small percentage of our electricity comes from oil, which is a good thing because we have a real need to learn to rely on renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuel.

I dare say that we’d make more efficient use of oil if we burned it to produce electricity and then used that electricity to charge EVs, rather than what we do now which is to produce gasoline out of oil to power ICEs.

The cost of electricity to power a vehicle the size of the Acura Legend is about 4-5 cents per mile. It’s hard to estimate this number because such a vehicle does not exist. But with new EVs coming out and electric conversions being done, we’ll probably get a more accurate number. However, this number is safe to use, and it’s derived from light electric vehicles that are already in operation, such as the Kurrent. The Kurrent weighs about 1,750 pounds and costs about 2 cents of US electricity to drive.

5 cents of “fuel” per mile is a lot cheaper than 16 cents. It changes the total cost of ownership of a car. It lowers the cost of fuel for the same car (battery powered) to about 1/3.

And we’re not even talking about the damaging effects of ICEs through emissions and the contributing factor of carbon dioxide to Global Warming. We’re not even talking about what the money you spend on gasoline is ultimately funding in the countries it’s going to. So far, we’re only looking at the benefit of the money you will save for yourself by driving an electric vehicle. Heck, what can you do with 2/3 of the money you currently spend on gasoline? I honestly want to know!

EVs offer so many advantages that it's difficult to list them all. The lower cost of fuel is one of them. Keep in mind the TCO of a vehicle, which includes fuel and maintenance. A gasoline Hummer H1 or H2 will burn over 30,000 gallons of gasoline throughout its lifetime (it gets 10 MPG). Just the cost of all that gasoline is over $90,000 at current gas prices. That’s enough money to buy a Tesla Roadster, which is 100% electric. Some of the [wealthy] people buying the Tesla Roadster already have solar panels in their homes, which means they get to drive their EV without ever having to spend any money on fuel and without ever having to stop at a gas station.

Many people will say that the Tesla Roadster is an expensive vehicle, and that the current EVs that are available are “too expensive”. The cost of EVs will decrease with mass production, but I disagree that they are “too expensive”. When you consider the TCO and analyze all the numbers you start realizing that you owning and driving an EV costs a lot less than the gasoline and diesel cars we drive now. Most of the cost of an EV is up front, but once you buy one you don't have to spend so much.

Have the oil companies been successfully at training you to not notice that they are taking your money little by little every time you fuel your car? How badly do you want an alternative to gasoline? Please, do post your questions, your thoughts and your knowledge on the subject.

- Ricardo Parker

The Lightning Car Company

In my efforts to get the public familiar with all of the EV companies and dealerships that exist at the moment, I thought I’d list these companies and businesses here on my blog. Keep in mind that most of these companies have yet to release a product and the best you can do is make a reservation for a future delivery). This is even the case with Tesla. Word is that even Martin Eberhard, CEO Tesla Motors, has to share a Tesla Roadster with the engineers of his company who’ve been working overtime on the car.

Please, be introduced to the Lightining Car Company. They are a Brittish company, which goes to show that EV technology is being embraced by visionaries worldwide and not just by a few. In fact, I believe that those who cling to technology of the past that’s more harmful than beneficial, will have a more difficult time making the transition. As Napoleon Hill once said, “the future belongs to those who see it”.

What I like most about the Lightining Car Company is that they boldly embrace EV technology, and emphasize the performance advantages that EVs have over the ICE. They also emphasize the simplicity of EV technology and explain the various mechanical parts that are eliminated by substituting ICE with EV technology, and fewer parts make for less maintenance. Some will argue that the usual auto-companies don’t wish to reduce complexity in their car because they enjoy the revenue they get from maintaining the complex vehicles you buy. But I’m all for simplicity and performance when it comes to anything.

The car featured by the Lightning Electric Company reminds me of the Dodge Viper; maybe a Brittish version of it, but just as aggressive and powerful. Their site claims that their car will have over 700 horsepower, which is remarkable. I do think that with EV technology many performance cars will eventually (and not too far in the future) will have over 1000, horsepower – something unthinkable for a mass production vehicle that uses an ICE.

- Ricardo Parker

The Lightning Car Company

In my efforts to get the public familiar with all of the EV companies and dealerships that exist at the moment, I thought I’d list these companies and businesses here on my blog. Keep in mind that most of these companies have yet to release a product and the best you can do is make a reservation for a future delivery). This is even the case with Tesla. Word is that even Martin Eberhard, CEO Tesla Motors, has to share a Tesla Roadster with the engineers of his company who’ve been working overtime on the car.

Please, be introduced to the Lightining Car Company. They are a Brittish company, which goes to show that EV technology is being embraced by visionaries worldwide and not just by a few. In fact, I believe that those who cling to technology of the past that’s more harmful than beneficial, will have a more difficult time making the transition. As Napoleon Hill once said, “the future belongs to those who see it”.

What I like most about the Lightining Car Company is that they boldly embrace EV technology, and emphasize the performance advantages that EVs have over the ICE. They also emphasize the simplicity of EV technology and explain the various mechanical parts that are eliminated by substituting ICE with EV technology, and fewer parts make for less maintenance. Some will argue that the usual auto-companies don’t wish to reduce complexity in their car because they enjoy the revenue they get from maintaining the complex vehicles you buy. But I’m all for simplicity and performance when it comes to anything.

The car featured by the Lightning Electric Company reminds me of the Dodge Viper; maybe a Brittish version of it, but just as aggressive and powerful. Their site claims that their car will have over 700 horsepower, which is remarkable. I do think that with EV technology many performance cars will eventually (and not too far in the future) will have over 1000, horsepower – something unthinkable for a mass production vehicle that uses an ICE.

- Ricardo Parker

The work continues on

Well, the research mentioned previously continues on. All of this is work, but work that I love doing, so the answers will be posted here in due time… just not immediately. I did not want unfinished research to put the blog on hold, so I thought I’d write something new. There’s lots of new information that has yet to be shared.

I have gotten great feedback from some of my friends who’ve read the blog so far. Thank you for your interest and support. I listen to every one of you and your input is greatly considered and appreciated!

One of my friends strongly suggested that I should add pictures of babes to my blog (believe it or not), so that I can get more traffic on the site. Well, I know that the success of my web site depends on my listening to you. So I took that into consideration. Then another friend of mine emailed me a link about a Mustang looking smart car with a couple of pictures of a babe in front of it. So I hope my friend will be pleased with the first set of photos of babes on my site (and will keep coming back and reading its content).

Speaking of the smart car (smart is a company founded by Swatch and Mercedes-Benz, and written with small caps), smart says that they are working on an Electric Vehicle called the smart ev. Just click on the previous link to be directed to a page on their UK site – do not expect to find any information on their American site. Their site says “It isn’t available to buy just yet, but it isn’t a million miles off.” – how is that for a promise? Hopefully market forces will allow us to see one in less than a million years, or a million miles. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but I just don’t think smart has the right incentive to give us the EV we want in the time frame that we want (which is RIGHT NOW).

For people who do want an electric smart car, you can get one from

Hybrid Technologies. Hybrid Technologies converts smart cars (as well as a few other different models) from gasoline to electric. George Clooney is actually promoting it! George Clooney has been my hero, as he’s the buyer of a Tango.
For some time I’ve wondered why Hybrid Technologies converts the smart car for the US market rather than a bigger car that would have more public acceptance in the US (plus avoiding the hassle of importing and retrofitting a car from another country). This process didn’t make sense to me, and to my understanding, the price tag on one of those electric smart cars is $40,000. Well, my conclusion is that the smart car’s light weight (less than 1,600 pounds) and good aerodynamics makes it for a vehicle that does not require a lot of batteries to move it. And being that Hybrid Technologies is using the best kind of batteries currently available (lithium-ion), then the smart car is a model that works well for long range, short charge-time with a small battery-pack. The less weight you carry, the cheaper it costs you and the longer you can go with the same energy. While perhaps not the most cost-effective solution or ideal platform, it’s a great start with the resources we have available. BTW, while not directly promoting Hybrid Technologies I thought I’d mention that they are a public company. So EV enthusiasts can claim that there’s at least one EV company that’s already public - Tesla Motors, which is likely the most well-funded EV company, is still a startup as of today.

Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama greets supporters at the WAMU Theater during a campaign appearance in Seattle. - (June 02, 2007)

n another note, last week I had the privilege of seeing Barak Obama in Seattle. He came to the WaMu Theater next to the Qwest Stadium, and gave a powerful speech to a crowd of people who was ready for a fresh start. Obama spoke of transforming America and addressed many different topics, and the one that I listened most closely to (naturally) was the topic of how importing foreign oil is a risk to our national security and economy. Obama said that if all cars in the US met a minimum 45 MPG fuel-efficiency, that America would not need to import foreign oil. I do not know how he reached this conclusion and what numbers he used, but I trust that his Math is right. In any case, do I need to mention that with Electric Vehicles you are running on zero gasoline or fossil fuel? That’s right! Zero emissions while driving, all the performance you want or need, and the best part: all this technology is already available! And charging is a battery pack on an EV costs a fraction of what it costs right now to fill up your car with gasoline or diesel at current prices (average gasoline price in Seattle is over $3.25 a gallon).
The only thing necessary for building an electric car is the will to build one. I’m sure that’s something George Clooney understands and why he’s doing so much to promote EVs.

The work continues on

Well, the research mentioned previously continues on. All of this is work, but work that I love doing, so the answers will be posted here in due time… just not immediately. I did not want unfinished research to put the blog on hold, so I thought I’d write something new. There’s lots of new information that has yet to be shared.

I have gotten great feedback from some of my friends who’ve read the blog so far. Thank you for your interest and support. I listen to every one of you and your input is greatly considered and appreciated!

One of my friends strongly suggested that I should add pictures of babes to my blog (believe it or not), so that I can get more traffic on the site. Well, I know that the success of my web site depends on my listening to you. So I took that into consideration. Then another friend of mine emailed me a link about a Mustang looking smart car with a couple of pictures of a babe in front of it. So I hope my friend will be pleased with the first set of photos of babes on my site (and will keep coming back and reading its content).

Speaking of the smart car (smart is a company founded by Swatch and Mercedes-Benz, and written with small caps), smart says that they are working on an Electric Vehicle called the smart ev. Just click on the previous link to be directed to a page on their UK site – do not expect to find any information on their American site. Their site says “It isn’t available to buy just yet, but it isn’t a million miles off.” – how is that for a promise? Hopefully market forces will allow us to see one in less than a million years, or a million miles. I don’t mean to be pessimistic, but I just don’t think smart has the right incentive to give us the EV we want in the time frame that we want (which is RIGHT NOW).

For people who do want an electric smart car, you can get one from

Hybrid Technologies. Hybrid Technologies converts smart cars (as well as a few other different models) from gasoline to electric. George Clooney is actually promoting it! George Clooney has been my hero, as he’s the buyer of a Tango.
For some time I’ve wondered why Hybrid Technologies converts the smart car for the US market rather than a bigger car that would have more public acceptance in the US (plus avoiding the hassle of importing and retrofitting a car from another country). This process didn’t make sense to me, and to my understanding, the price tag on one of those electric smart cars is $40,000. Well, my conclusion is that the smart car’s light weight (less than 1,600 pounds) and good aerodynamics makes it for a vehicle that does not require a lot of batteries to move it. And being that Hybrid Technologies is using the best kind of batteries currently available (lithium-ion), then the smart car is a model that works well for long range, short charge-time with a small battery-pack. The less weight you carry, the cheaper it costs you and the longer you can go with the same energy. While perhaps not the most cost-effective solution or ideal platform, it’s a great start with the resources we have available. BTW, while not directly promoting Hybrid Technologies I thought I’d mention that they are a public company. So EV enthusiasts can claim that there’s at least one EV company that’s already public - Tesla Motors, which is likely the most well-funded EV company, is still a startup as of today.

Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama greets supporters at the WAMU Theater during a campaign appearance in Seattle. - (June 02, 2007)

n another note, last week I had the privilege of seeing Barak Obama in Seattle. He came to the WaMu Theater next to the Qwest Stadium, and gave a powerful speech to a crowd of people who was ready for a fresh start. Obama spoke of transforming America and addressed many different topics, and the one that I listened most closely to (naturally) was the topic of how importing foreign oil is a risk to our national security and economy. Obama said that if all cars in the US met a minimum 45 MPG fuel-efficiency, that America would not need to import foreign oil. I do not know how he reached this conclusion and what numbers he used, but I trust that his Math is right. In any case, do I need to mention that with Electric Vehicles you are running on zero gasoline or fossil fuel? That’s right! Zero emissions while driving, all the performance you want or need, and the best part: all this technology is already available! And charging is a battery pack on an EV costs a fraction of what it costs right now to fill up your car with gasoline or diesel at current prices (average gasoline price in Seattle is over $3.25 a gallon).
The only thing necessary for building an electric car is the will to build one. I’m sure that’s something George Clooney understands and why he’s doing so much to promote EVs.

How much oil is required for manufacturing, maintaining and driving a vehicle?

Well, this question is definitely hard to answer. There's so much that goes behind building a car in terms of energy expenditure, that I consider impossible to get an accurate number. But we may be able to get an estimate. Here's a great question: which requires more energy - manufacturing a car or driving and maintaining it? In the case of electric vehicles no oil is necessary to power the car and the energy can come from 100% renewable sources as mentioned in my previous post. EVs require very little maintenance in comparison to ICEs; something I'll get into details later.

According to Colin Campbell, it takes between 17 and 50 barrels of oil to manufacture a single car. Of course no auto plant is built for the purpose of building a single car (not typically anyway), so this information is broken down and the impact on the environment is always from manufacturing large numbers of vehicles and not just one. But let's use these numbers as a basis until we get something more accurate. What is the amount of oil that it takes to drive a car? This last question is a little easier to answer, though it'll require some research. I'll probably use the Toyota Camry for this measurement since it's the "best-selling passenger car in America". I'll use the average miles-per-gallon (MPG) of the Toyota Camry to calculate how much gasoline it uses in its lifetime. For the lifetime I'll probably use 300,000 miles since I believe that's how long those engines last on average. Then the last step will be to convert the energy in a gallon of gasoline to the energy in a barrel of oil. This should give us an estimate. If anyone has any ideas or pointers, please let me know. In the meantime I'll be working on this. Please check back soon!
- Ricardo Parker

Source: http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/whats_in_barrel_oil.html

How much oil is required for manufacturing, maintaining and driving a vehicle?

Well, this question is definitely hard to answer. There's so much that goes behind building a car in terms of energy expenditure, that I consider impossible to get an accurate number. But we may be able to get an estimate. Here's a great question: which requires more energy - manufacturing a car or driving and maintaining it? In the case of electric vehicles no oil is necessary to power the car and the energy can come from 100% renewable sources as mentioned in my previous post. EVs require very little maintenance in comparison to ICEs; something I'll get into details later.

According to Colin Campbell, it takes between 17 and 50 barrels of oil to manufacture a single car. Of course no auto plant is built for the purpose of building a single car (not typically anyway), so this information is broken down and the impact on the environment is always from manufacturing large numbers of vehicles and not just one. But let's use these numbers as a basis until we get something more accurate. What is the amount of oil that it takes to drive a car? This last question is a little easier to answer, though it'll require some research. I'll probably use the Toyota Camry for this measurement since it's the "best-selling passenger car in America". I'll use the average miles-per-gallon (MPG) of the Toyota Camry to calculate how much gasoline it uses in its lifetime. For the lifetime I'll probably use 300,000 miles since I believe that's how long those engines last on average. Then the last step will be to convert the energy in a gallon of gasoline to the energy in a barrel of oil. This should give us an estimate. If anyone has any ideas or pointers, please let me know. In the meantime I'll be working on this. Please check back soon!
- Ricardo Parker

Source: http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/whats_in_barrel_oil.html

Welcome Folks!

Welcome to ElectricKar.com!

My goal is to make this the #1 site for electric vehicles with the intention of educating the public, answering all questions and promoting EV technology. We will use a blog to start and upgrade as needed. After 6 months of research I believe I can provide the answers to most questions that are out there. So please challenge me with your questions! If I don't have the answer I promise to do the research necessary to get it. I'm that passionate about electric vehicles.

Why Electric Vehicles?

Unlike conventional cars which use an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and require some sort of liquid fuel for propulsion, Electric Vehicles (EVs) require only electricity. The large majority of cars on the planet run on gasoline, which is a product of oil. Aside from the numerous disadvantages of burning oil - air pollution, contribution to Global Warming and the threat to US national security that comes from importing energy that comes mostly from unfriendly nations - oil is a finite resource. It's estimated that we humans have burned just over 50% of all the oil available, in a period of roughly 150 years. Because world demand for oil keeps increasing in an oil-fueled global economy that is conditioned to grow, it's estimated that at current rates it will take us 91 more years to use up the remaining oil. So, whether this happens sooner or later is irrelevant: the fact is that the primary source of energy used to move our vehicles (among other activities) will come to an end, and not too far from now. Electric Vehicles are one answer to this serious issue that we all face. EVs do not require the burning of fossil fuels for propulsion since electricity can be generated from renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, biomass, and other sources that we may discover and develop. Unlike other fuel alternatives for vehicles (hydrogen, biofuels, etc) which require the building of an infrastructure for providing the fuel, it's fair to say that the infrastructure for powering EVs already exists: electric outlets can be found in our homes and offices. Cars are not being driven most of the time, so when they are parked they could be charged for the next trip. While the typical 110v electric outlet is not ideal for charging an electric car because it can take up to 8 hours to fully charge one, power stations with a much faster energy transfer rate can be installed at parking lots, rest areas, and convenience stores. With a power outlet an electric car, such as the soon to be released Tesla Roadster, can be charged in 30 minutes or less. The amount of time to charge any electric car will likely decrease greatly once EV technology is developed further. But even if it will take 8 hours to fully charge a car on an 100v outlet: this may be a good alternative for some people already, who have their cars parked for 8 hours or more in their workplace while they work.
- Ricardo Parker

Welcome Folks!

Welcome to ElectricKar.com!

My goal is to make this the #1 site for electric vehicles with the intention of educating the public, answering all questions and promoting EV technology. We will use a blog to start and upgrade as needed. After 6 months of research I believe I can provide the answers to most questions that are out there. So please challenge me with your questions! If I don't have the answer I promise to do the research necessary to get it. I'm that passionate about electric vehicles.

Why Electric Vehicles?

Unlike conventional cars which use an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) and require some sort of liquid fuel for propulsion, Electric Vehicles (EVs) require only electricity. The large majority of cars on the planet run on gasoline, which is a product of oil. Aside from the numerous disadvantages of burning oil - air pollution, contribution to Global Warming and the threat to US national security that comes from importing energy that comes mostly from unfriendly nations - oil is a finite resource. It's estimated that we humans have burned just over 50% of all the oil available, in a period of roughly 150 years. Because world demand for oil keeps increasing in an oil-fueled global economy that is conditioned to grow, it's estimated that at current rates it will take us 91 more years to use up the remaining oil. So, whether this happens sooner or later is irrelevant: the fact is that the primary source of energy used to move our vehicles (among other activities) will come to an end, and not too far from now. Electric Vehicles are one answer to this serious issue that we all face. EVs do not require the burning of fossil fuels for propulsion since electricity can be generated from renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind power, biomass, and other sources that we may discover and develop. Unlike other fuel alternatives for vehicles (hydrogen, biofuels, etc) which require the building of an infrastructure for providing the fuel, it's fair to say that the infrastructure for powering EVs already exists: electric outlets can be found in our homes and offices. Cars are not being driven most of the time, so when they are parked they could be charged for the next trip. While the typical 110v electric outlet is not ideal for charging an electric car because it can take up to 8 hours to fully charge one, power stations with a much faster energy transfer rate can be installed at parking lots, rest areas, and convenience stores. With a power outlet an electric car, such as the soon to be released Tesla Roadster, can be charged in 30 minutes or less. The amount of time to charge any electric car will likely decrease greatly once EV technology is developed further. But even if it will take 8 hours to fully charge a car on an 100v outlet: this may be a good alternative for some people already, who have their cars parked for 8 hours or more in their workplace while they work.
- Ricardo Parker