Friday, November 30, 2012

EVTV Friday Show - November 23, 2012

Last week, no show because Richard went all the way up to Detroit to get Jack's lots from the Azue Dynamics Liquidation Sale



Richard @ Azure Dynamics warehouse

Here is the Electric Ford Transit Connect Azur Dynamics was building

and a small bus (plu-in hybrid though)

large electric powertrain, for small buses

Under the hood of a Ford Transit Connect

IT took some time to fully load the 53(?) feet truck trailer


And unloading all this equipment in Cape Girardeau

A double row of Siemens motors, well aligned ...

and Jack is contempleting Richard's good work


Jack goes through the details of this assembled electric powertrain: Inverter/DC-DC Converter/Controller, Siemens AC Induction Motor (with liquid cooling), Gearbox (1 ratio), and Brusa Charger 





Siemens 1PV5135-4WS14 AC Induction Motor


All these items are now for sale in the EVTV online Store at very interesting prices !






GE Acquires LED Lighting Startup Albeo Technologies

GE buys Albeo to strengthen its position in the growing market for industrial LEDs.

General Electric Lighting has signed an agreement to acquire the Boulder startup Albeo Technologies.

The purchase will help GE boost its ability to offer all-LED solutions to customers, especially in the area of industrial lighting. “This acquisition is a big boost for GE customers moving aggressively toward an all-LED building envelope in new construction and retrofits, including retail, commercial and industrial high-bay applications,” Maryrose Sylvester, president and CEO, GE Lighting, said in a statement.

Earlier this year, Albeo raised $8 million in a series C funding round. Albeo saw a 50-percent increase in revenue in 2011. Commercial and industrial sectors are moving more quickly toward LEDs than other sectors, with a significant increase in sales for many players in the market.


For cold storage and data centers, in particular, the payback is usually less than two years. Albeo works in one of the world’s ten largest data centers to provide an all-LED solution.

"Some of our biggest customers told us they wanted a GE-quality solution for high bay,” said Sylvester. “This acquisition accelerates our development of cutting-edge technologies that brings customers the energy-efficient solutions they need. That’s what customers get at the end of the day -- a refined, highly modular and scalable platform that delivers the GE quality they’ve come to expect.”

For Albeo, the move to become part of GE allows it access to GE’s worldwide paths to market and huge research and development capabilities.

The announcement comes at the same time GE released a report on the “Industrial Internet,” which is essentially the networking of industrial machines, could add $10 trillion to $15 trillion to global GDP.

Lighting is a perfect example. In commercial buildings, lighting gobbles up 35 percent to 40 percent of electricity. With LEDs and controls, that figure can be vastly reduced. The savings are so great that, although cold storage and data centers have been early adopters, large office spaces and various other types of manufacturing and commercial operations are investigating LEDs.

A 2010 Enterprise LED Lighting report from Groom Energy and GTM Research also found that the market for LEDs in parking garages should start to mature going into 2012. "GE is making a statement that they need to broaden their product offering faster, and Albeo fits into a category where they didn't have a competitive LED product [in the] high bay [category]," said Jon Guerster, CEO of Groom Energy Solutions and the report author. "This is an early industry, developing at a rapid pace, and consolidation is to be expected."

Outside of commercial and industrial applications, the interest is still nascent. There will be some groundwork laid in 2012, but GTM Research and Groom Energy see the period of 2013 to 2015 as the breakout years for those markets.

Earlier this year, Jeff Bisberg, CEO of Albeo, told Greentech Media that the LED market was wide and there would be a lot of winners. For Albeo, the market just got a whole lot bigger.

While there will likely be more consolidation in the fixture market, Guerster said to keep an eye out for large incumbents, like GE, acquiring an LED chip company. "That would be a much bigger statement about how serious they are about the LED lighting market."


Source: GreenTech Media

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Vectrix 2012 commercial - VX-1

Nice Vectrix 2012 commercial - VX-1 found on Youtube





Nissan Gives The Electric Version of Its NV200 A Go Ahead

An electric version of Nissan’s NV200 taxi is being tested in Spain. Nissan plans production by the end of 2013.



It’s official, Nissan presented the electric version of its NV200, the e-NV200 concept in Spain, hailed as the city's next generation clean taxi. The presentation really aimed at the future model’s use for the city of New York, something Nissan won with its regular NV200. Nissan is making a smart strategic move to start building on its electric vehicle legacy and hard earned experience with its Leaf platform, with already more than 43,000 units on the road. Adapting its electric vehicle, EV knowhow to a taxi makes perfect, as these vehicles have predicted little range.

Electrifying The NV200. Electrifying the NV200 makes a lot of sense for fleet owners, and hopefully individuals. The new-generation compact van is well suited for a wide variety of uses and is now available in 40 countries. Nissan has already sold more than 135,000 units worldwide. With positive feedback from customers, its interior space, great fuel economy, the driving performance has been well received and it was awarded the International Van of the Year 2010. What really set it on the radar bleep was when New York City chose it as their exclusive next generation taxi. An electric version is the next logical step for Nissan.

Turning A Car Into Electricity. Nissan has invested over $129 million into it and the all-electric e-NV200 further the company’s zero emissions sustainable mobility plan. Currently, Nissan is working with Barcelona’s City Council's to promote their sustainable mobility plan around the city and metropolitan area. Although Spain has been hard hit by the recession, it has poured tremendous resources into an electric vehicle charging grid with over 250 public points distributed around the city, as well as solar energy. The country sees electric vehicles as a major driver of its economic development and hopefully, its way back to financial health. Let’s not forget that the next EVS, EVS27 will be held in 2013 in Spain.

According to Jordi Vila, Fleet and Commercial Vehicles general manager at Nissan Europe: "With the start of operation of the NV200 Diesel Taxi in Barcelona, Nissan expects to gather information on experiences and expectations of taxi drivers in order to prepare for our next step, the launch of the world's most advanced zero emission compact van, the new e-NV200, which will significantly improve air quality and reduce noise levels in the city".

For its part, Nissan is contributing to the development of infrastructure by having delivered 400 quick chargers for electric cars throughout Europe. These units have been developed by Nissan and meet the CHAdeMO standards. What is different about these new units is that they have been reduced in size and now cost only half as much as they used to.

Nissan has had to weather stormy waters ever since its Leaf battery packs showed the strain and wear in hot climate. The company probably didn’t handle the news as well as it should and had already slowed down its EV campaign by a few months. It sounds as if Nissan was well aware of the limits of its battery pack, especially in such extreme weather conditions as Phoenix, Arizona but decided at first to avoid the topic, only having to address the issue.

In the meantime, turning an already successful NV200 van into electricity for fleet owners and especially limited range taxi owners makes a lot of sense. We look forward seeing these electric version of Nissan’s NV200, the e-NV200 driving around our cities.



Source: Torque News

Renault Press Release: Diane Kruger electrifies the Champs-Elysées in a Renault ZOE

On Wednesday, November 21, actress Diane Kruger, arrived in an electric Renault ZOE to switch on the Christmas lights that will illuminate the world’s most beautiful avenue until January 9, 2013.



Renault has been official partner of the Champs-Elysées Christmas lights since 2012.

New, more environmentally friendly lights

From November 21, 2012, the lights will adorn 200 trees along more than a mile of the Champs-Elysées. This year again will see more environmentally friendly third-generation LED lights, reflecting Renault’s priorities. The new technology will also reduce the energy bill. Some of the 38,000 kWh that will be consumed during the operation will be supplied by the Thémis solar farm in the eastern Pyrénées.
Renault, the “natural” partner of the Christmas lights

Renault was the first carmaker to open premises on the world’s most beautiful avenue, 100 years ago.


Innovative electric lights? Renault has innovation in its genes and develops affordable technologies in anticipation of customers’ expectations. Renault is the only carmaker to sell a full range of electric vehicles at affordable retail prices: Kangoo Z.E, Fluence Z.E. Twizy and ZOE.

Environmentally-aware Christmas lights? Renault launched a strong environmental approach in 1995, which takes into account the environmental impacts of all the company’s activities, at every stage in the life cycle of a car. The Renault eco2 label represents that commitment.

For the second year in a row, visitors to the illuminated Champs-Elysées are welcome to drop in at L’Atelier Renault to prolong the magical experience. L’Atelier Renault Café has even designed an “Illuminations” (“Christmas Lights”) cocktail, which can be enjoyed at any time of the day.

In the middle of the Champs-Elysées : L’Atelier Renault



About L’Atelier Renault

Open daily from 10:30 am to 11:30 pm (and to 1:30 am on Fridays and Saturdays), L’Atelier Renault organizes special events year-round themed on Renault and the latest Renault news. With its suspended walkways and mezzanine overlooking the exhibition space, the L’Atelier Renault Café restaurant and bar is open from 12:00 pm-4:00 pm for lunch and from 4:00 pm until closing for dinner or simply to unwind for a moment on the most beautiful avenue in the world. The venue also features a vehicle sales outlet, a Renault shop where visitors can find brand merchandising, and a free WiFi hot spot.



Source: My Renault Zoe


Friday, November 23, 2012

My ESS with Lead AGM Batteries

I am now testing my ESS (Energy Storage System) with big (and heavy) lead AGM Yuasa 12V batteries. I have had them for few years now as they were used for my small solar storage setup upstairs
They are exact twins: 65Ah 12V Yuasa AGM NP65-12I (23kg, mostly used in RVs I think) purchased new
Simply wiring them in series, I get a 24V source to power my BESPSS and that is what I did last night:



I am using this 100A breaker in between, breaking the pack in two in case of a problem



Now I have to install the ESS Control Board, on top is fine

and not too far from the Grid Tie Inverters stack


All wired up and ready for testing ...

I close the breaker and start the Control Board: it is simply working fine, and Wattson is already green :-) and negative

and stays right above 0W

I did not test this new set up very long, but will do more testing this week end
I am then charging each battery with a 12V lead acid battery charger, a good one: Mascot from Norway, feeding 2.7A to the battery in bulk mode


60,000 Visits - Thank you all ! :-)

And 10,000 more ...

Thanks again for following my blog !


Thursday, November 22, 2012

Nissan launches TWIZY in Yokohama, Japan

Nissan launches the TWIZY in Yokohama, Japan



Several months after Renault in France and Europe, Nissan launches the Twizy in Japan at their Global Headquaters in Yokohama




What is quite common now here, is quite new over there ...


They will have the yellow plate indicating that this is a small/slower vehicle not allowed to use the freeway


欧州で既に販売が開始されている「日産ニューモビリティコンセプト」と呼ばれる電気自動車(EV)は、現在日本の道路を走る上で法規上のカテゴリーがないため、現在当局に­よる検討が行われています。

Nissan Announces the NEW LEAF S in Japan - 日産、「リーフ」のマイナーチェンジ版を公開

Nissan Announces the NEW LEAF S in Japan

This is a longer version video from Nissan this time:


Many journalists where invited by Nissan for this event


Among others improvements on the battery and motor, inverter and DC-DC converter are now lighter and more compact; The LEAF lost 80kg and its range has gained 15% while the price is going down; This new S version is sold only in Japan for now ...


More compact power electronics


You can now remotly open the Charge Port lid using your remote: good idea


New J1772 locking mechanism; nobody can steal or unplug your charge cable while plugged in ...




日産は電気自動車「リーフ」の改良版を公開しました。各種機能の向上に加え、より多くの販売店での世界No.1 EVへの急速充電を可能にするものです。「リーフ」は世界累計で4万3千台販売されています。改良版は航続距離が228キロメートルに伸び、日本市場向けに3つのグレード­が投入される予定です


Wednesday, November 21, 2012

EVTV Friday Show - November 9, 2012

This week:
- HPEVS (Hi Performance Electric Vehicle Systems) New AC-50 Motor
- More battery theory: cold weather charging & anode advancements
- Azure Dynamics liquidation fire sale



New Tesla Roadster ...

The return of the copper foil helmet ...


And back to school, with Professor Rickard ... (battery school that is)

2 things:
- Do not charge LiFePO4 cells below 0°C
- Adavancements in Anode announced by Rice University are very promising :-)


New HPEVS AC-50 Motor: bigger, harder & stronger


The one Jack is using at the moment (in the Speedster Nippon build for example)


Azure Dynamics liquidation fire sale: Jack acquired a lot of quality EV parts that will be available on the EVTV Online Store for bargain prices ! "Stay with us..." :-) 

More info on Jack's blog



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