Utah is a state that gets a lot of sun but not a lot of attention on these pages for their green transportation moves. Still, it does seem that the DIY crowd is strong there. Remember the homemade Ariel Atom? That's not the only homemade vehicle taking to the street in the state.

Kyle Dansie and Michael Mielke run ZEVUtah (Zero Emission Vehicles of Utah) and are two strong proponents of taking control of your transportation energy sources. The Salt Lake Tribune ran a story recently about the 1994 VW Golf that the two converted to all-electric drive with solar panels on the roof. They draw extra power from the solar panels deployed on the roof. This isn't an EV for everyone, but the 65 mph top speed and 40 mile range should be enough for most people to use on a daily basis - at least, people who can swallow the $10,000 price tag for the electric components on top of whatever it costs to buy the Golf. There's a multimedia slideshow of the converted car here and ZEVUtah contains detailed descriptions on what happened during the conversion and explains why decisions were made as they were. Very helpful if you're thinking of tinkering yourself.

[Source: Salt Lake Tribune]

Great Scott! An all-electric 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 is now up on eBay for the bargain price of $15,600. Well, it'd be a bargain if it could jump through time and wasn't under the reserve price. The one-off conversion was done by the seller and a friend and uses a WarP 9 electric motor that gets juice from thirteen 12 volt 100 amp-hour deep cycle Deka 9A31 Intimidator AGM batteries (they take up the trunk and underhood spaces. These can power the car for a 40-mile range and recharge in eight hours from a standard wall plug or 2-3 hours from a 220-volt outlet. The seller has put a series of videos about the car up on YouTube, including "Shifting gears in a clutchless Electric DeLorean," which we've pasted after the jump. Drawbacks to the home conversion are that the heater and A/C have been disconnected.

The seller promises that "If the Buy It Now option is used, I will include the custom build "Flux Capacitor" shown in the pictures." That BIN price is a cool $100,000, so you might just want to save your pennies for a Mr. Fusion. H/t to Mike for the tip.


[Source: eBay]

Zap's been having a pretty good last few weeks. There was the groundbreaking at the Kentucky plant and now we hear that August electric vehicle sales set a new record. According to a new release from Zap (pasted after the jump), the company sold $737,000 worth (unaudited) of vehicles in August, compared to $392,000 in August 2007. Back in April 2007, Zap announced a "sale" of $79 million, but we had questions about that.

Considering the earlier questions, I asked Zap for some clarification of the most recent sale numbers, including how many of each EVs were sold. I wondered if this was another "sale" to a partner, but Zap's response indicates that this is not the case this time: "Sales are mostly to individual consumers. Don't have a breakdown but most of the sales were for trucks," they wrote to AutoblogGreen. That's what we know.

[Source: ZAP]

NOTE: If you missed them, you can read parts one and two.

High tech development, market launch and retreat

Because its 1,175-pound pack of 27 advanced lead-acid (PbA) batteries - 26 propulsion, one for accessories - held a mere half-gallon of gasoline-equivalent energy, the production EV1 would have to be an incredibly efficient teardrop-shaped two-seater to achieve even barely acceptable range. Stretching it to accommodate four passengers would have reduced its already very modest range some 25 percent due to added weight and aero drag.

"The fundamental variables are mass, aerodynamics, rolling resistance, accessory loads and driveline efficiency," says Bob Purcell, who was our Advanced Technology Vehicles (ATV) Div. Executive Director. "So the exercise was to ensure that we would meet all customer requirements using the least possible energy in each of those areas."

Continue reading after the jump.

click to enlarge

When Daryl Hannah sold her biodiesel El Camino on eBay earlier this year we didn't think it would herald a full-scale shift from biofuels to electric cars, but at the very least it moves her more into the hybrid zone (i.e., she supports multiple fuel alternatives, including this hybrid bike). Whatever the case, Hannah is currently in full-EV promotion mode and recently taped a segment for The Daily Show with new guy Wyatt Cenac (who doesn't know he's adopted).

The taping happened as part of the Electric Vehicle Rolling Showcase with our friend Paul Scott (the guy on the right in this picture) who is in Denver as part of the Democratic Convention happening this week. Paul describes how the Hannah interview went after the jump. Paul works with Plug In America, a tireless advocacy group that promotes electric vehicles and is working with Chris Paine on the sequel to Who Killed The Electric Car?

Aside from the Daily Show excitement, Paul was glad that, "the McCain supporters were there to supply some much needed humor." Sounds like a fun time.


[Source: Paul Scott / Plug-In America]

There has been a lot of noise in Kentucky recently as state elected officials work to bring a large electric car factory to the area. A month ago, Democrats and Republicans were fighting over just who could hold the earlier press conference with representatives from Zap. Then, two weeks ago, the governor issued an executive order to allow low-speed three wheelers like Zap's Xebra on the roads. On Friday, officials from the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority gave the green light to offer a $48m tax credit package to Integrity Manufacturing of Bullitt County for an $84m plant that could be used by Zap to build electric vehicles. A final deal is expected this week, says the Courier-Journal, and Zap could employ anywhere between 500 and 2,500 workers in Kentucky (or maybe Indiana, if the Kentucky deal falls through) some time after the plant is up and running in late 2009.

[Source: Courier-Journal]

People who insist that cruising the streets of London should be done in an electric vehicle like the G-Wiz (pictured) can't really complain that the city isn't supporting them them with ways to power their rides (see also here and here). The latest addition to the EV charging infrastructure in London will be in the southern and western parts of the city - in the buroughs of Wandsworth, Richmond Upon Thames, Sutton and Hammersmith & Fulham - and is made up of nine new charging stations. The devices go online tomorrow and will be open to unlimited used for anyone willing to drop a £100 annual fee. The exact locations of the charging stations is listed here. The chargers, called Elektrobays (others are known as Juice Points), are a joint project of SWELTRAC, Transport for London, the Energy Saving Trust, EDF Energy and Elektromotive. Thanks to Adam V.

[Source: Smart Planet]

While many automakers are getting a bit bullish about diesel cars in America (see Mercedes, Nissan and VW), a board member of parts supplier Continental AG told Handelsblatt (via Thompson Financial) that an overall downturn in diesel interest in the U.S. means his company is looking more toward electric cars than diesel-powered ones. Board member Karl-Heinz Neumann said, "Regarding diesel fuel, I'm more sceptical by now. There's not much happening in the U.S. The opportunities of the electrical car have surprised all of us."

Neumann's stance is bolstered by Ford's recent decline in diesel truck sales and, more importantly, by a recent Conti study that showed high consumer interest in zero-emission vehicles. Making the shift to EV support is not a problem for the supplier, because Conti is well into setting up advanced battery deals with some automakers. The lithium-ion battery in the upcoming Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHybrid will be from Continental and then there's that whole Chevy Volt thing.

[Source: Thompson Financial]

How can we figure out how much potential electric car buyers are willing to pay for their battery-powered rides? Why not just ask them?

That's what Liberty Electric Cars did at the recent Eden Project 'Green' Car Show. Liberty conducted "in-depth interviews" at the show and found that green car fans are willing to pay up to 30 percent more for a car if it's powered solely by electrons. That's a huge premium that at least some in our little community are willing to fork over. On a $20,000, for example, that's six grand, and 65 percent of the people Liberty interviewed said the 30 percent extra is no problem. Forty-five percent, though, said that smaller, less powerful, "city" cars would not be acceptable. I guess that means that 55 percent think that the Th!nk City (pictured) would be OK, which is good.

Liberty Electric Cars is the company that's working to convert Range Rovers to EVs. More info after the jump.

[Source: Liberty Electric Cars]

Driving a Ford-branded Th!nk Neighbor (NEV) around Pasadena wasn't good enough for Bill Provence. He wanted more speed, more safety and a little more protection from the elements. So, he did what any of us would do and teamed up some engineering and manufacturing friends in Michigan and built his own dream car. What? You don't have engineering and manufacturing friends in Michigan? Well, it appears you may be in luck because in a video telling us about his new sealed AGM lead acid battery-powered vehicle, Bill mentions that he's planning on building more to sell to those of us less well connected.

Potentially operating under the company name, Pure Electric Vehicles, Mr.Provence wants to offer his three-wheeler this Fall for a base price of $9,999. For that price he evens plans to throw in a radio, an iPod "connection" and a heater! Although we don't know what kind of range the EV has, it is claimed to go 65 mph. Bill says he will being making some more videos and posting them on YouTube to keep the world informed of his progress. Hopefully that progress includes windows. Hit the jump to see his machine in motion.

Remember the WIRED article exposing the, let's say, odd things that have happened at electric car company Zap? EDN's technical editor, Paul Rako, has written an article saying that EV hucksterism needs to be everybody's business. Basically, he writes, don't buy the hype. "When unknown hucksters start peddling their BS it is time to take a deep breath and hope sanity prevails," he said. Rako singles out John Goodwin, who's creating Neil Young's LincVolt, as the best example of EV hucksterism. Really, more so than Michael Papp, who was actually arrested for his scam?

We certainly like to hear about new cars and technologies here on AutoblogGreen, and we do try to take that deep breath (and not just when we log into our Skype accounts), so I agree with Rako. Still, I'd take him a lot more seriously, if he hadn't called Neil Young a "former heroin addict." Whatever. Young also wrote some of the best songs ever, but what does all this have to do with anything?

[Source: EDN via EVWorld]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Mitsuibshi i MiEV.

Previous G8 summits have seen talk about biofuels and GEM electric vehicles. This year, the EVs are getting a bit of an upgrade, with ten Mitsubishi i MiEV electric vehicles available for officials at the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit in Japan in early July. Media representatives covering the conference will also be able to ride in the zero-emission jellybeans. MItsubishi said in a statement (after the jump) that it hopes "attendees of the G8 Summit will find a new appreciation for the superior practicality and environmental viability of electric vehicles."

The Summit will cover a wide variety of topic, from environmental concerns to African development to the world economy. The Prime Minister of Japan, Yasuo Fukuda (also the G8 Summit chair), said that, "Global warming is a huge challenge, and humanity has no time to lose. The international community must urgently strengthen efforts to resolve this issue." He hopes that a Japanese proposal called the Cool Earth Promotion Programme will pick up support in Hokkaido.

Click above for more images of the SAM from Cree Ltd.

There is a new all electric three-wheeler in Switzerland known as the SAM, produced by Cree Ltd. Featuring a power pack made up of six individual batteries which produces 168 volts, the 15kW motor, which also produces 80Nm of torque, is capable of propelling the SAM to speeds of up to 85 kilometers per hour (about 53 mph). Acceleration is fairly leisurely, but that's not really the point with this particular machine, is it? The range is not stellar, just 60 kilometers, or 37 miles. The price, though, would make this an extremely attractive machine to many: just $10,000.

In terms of design, SAM looks pretty good, with its aluminum backbone chassis and independent front suspension with a transverse leaf spring -- like the Corvette. The weight comes in at 695 kilograms, or about 1,500 pounds. Safety measures include three-point seatbelts along with an integrated roll bar. This is exactly the type of vehicle we'd love to see come to the U.S. as a replacement for the ZAP Xebra, which proved that there is in fact a market in the states for alternative transportation such as this.


[Source: Cree Ltd. via Faster and Faster]

You're probably familiar with the recent problems with quiet and silent vehicles and people with less-than-perfect sight. The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) has been on the case for a while, but there is one angle of their advocacy I didn't know about until Harper's printed the lyrics. The lyrics to what, you might ask? Well, the lyrics to a reworked version of the 1943 song Surry With the Fringe on Top (from Oklahoma!) and used by the NFB's Committee on Automobile and Pedestrian Safety. Mary Ellen Gabias wrote new lyrics to the song that go:

Kids and dogs won't know when to scurry.
Silent death arrives in a hurry.
All who walk have reason to worry 'Bout the hybrid car.
We all want to stop the polluting, Save a lot of gas while commuting.
If they made sound there'd be no disputing With the hybrid car.
Saving the planet we all hold dear, Nobody wants to destroy it.
Please make cars pedestrians can hear 'Cause we want to be 'round to enjoy it.
We don't need a noisy vrum-vrumming, Just a simple audible humming,
So that we can know when you're coming In a hybrid car.
Then we all can walk with safety on the street Without fear that we will accident'lly meet
A hybrid car.

Gabias told AutoblogGreen she hoped the song "would make people think about the issue, especially pedestrians who are not blind and may not have considered how they would be affected by nearly silent automobiles." Many thanks to Gabias for permission to post this song. You can download it yourself here and listen by pushing play, below:



This version is sung by Tom Bickford with piano by Chris Danielsen.

[Source: National Federation of the Blind via Harper's, thanks to Ann]

Need an audio guide to the electric vehicle world while you wait for the Who Killed The Electric Car sequel? Internet entrepreneur and author Bo Bennett along with his EV co-host Ryan Levesque think that their new electric car podcast - EVcast - is just what the doctor ordered. The free show is available at the website or in iTunes and the first episode will be released today at 1 pm EST via a live stream (podcast version to follow). According to a release sent out by Bennett, the show will "inform the American public on the benefits of the emerging technology of electric cars in a non-technical and entertaining way."

Bennett had the idea for the show after he started looking around for a new car about half a year ago and realized that EVs are the best option for the future. He recognizes EV's "shortcomings," but the show's "ultimate goal is to spread the adoption of the electric vehicle, but at the same time help consumers make smart decisions when comes to buying a pure EV, hybrid, or even sticking with a gas powered vehicle for now." Whether the duo will be able to "cut through the crap, figuratively speaking" remains to be heard.

[Source: EVcast]