Commentary: Let road user tax be simple

Commentary: Let road user tax be simple: "Sure, owners of conventional motor vehicles pay road taxes every time they fill up, now at the rate of 30 cents a gallon for the state, and 18.4 cents per gallon for the feds. So there’s some rationale for requiring electric vehicle owners to pay as they go as well.

But this takes a lot of technology, not to mention a debate about surveillance and tracking and Big Brother and all that.

How about keeping it simple instead and requiring owners of registered electric vehicles to report their mileage once a year? Along with the mileage report they’d remit the tax.

The proposed fee is 0.6 cents per mile (less than half the average for motor vehicles so as to encourage the use of electric rigs). If somebody reports that his two vehicles together ran for 18,000 miles since the last report, he’d remit the $108 in tax.

It’s not without its drawbacks. But if the penalty for stiffing the state and their fellow highway users is high enough, electic vehicle owners, a responsible bunch, would surely make sure that they pay their share."

FIRST DRIVE: Fisker Karma - Racer.com

FIRST DRIVE: Fisker Karma - Racer.com: "Maybe it was the power breakfast I shared with Fisker Automotive's three main men that changed my mind. Maybe it was the story of their three-year campaign to raise a billion dollars to build their Karma extended-range electric luxury sedan, half of it a U.S. government subsidy and half from venture capitalists impressed both by Fisker's ability to tame hard-nosed legislators and with their store of 3,000 back orders. Perhaps I simply sniffed the balmy Los Angeles air and remembered that the American Dream survives on the West Coast, and one of its better effects is to encourage well-heeled car lovers to try something new. Whatever, my day-long meeting with the Karma – and the men who built it – moved the project in my mental filing cabinet from “brave but probably foolhardy” to “great idea whose time has arrived.”"

Future Mobile Food Technology in Electric Cars - QSR magazine

Future Mobile Food Technology in Electric Cars - QSR magazine: "It wasn’t so long ago that restaurants kept their books with paper and pencil, advertised mainly in print and on television, and offered coupons that existed in actual tangible newspapers. But advances in various technologies, from POS monitors to the Internet to mobile devices, have changed all of that.

Restaurants are finding the pace of technological change both dizzying and promising. One burgeoning innovation that may further change the way restaurants do business, particularly when it comes to delivery and the mobile food business, is the electric vehicle (ev)."

EcoPol Project: New Device to Store Electrical Energy

EcoPol Project: New Device to Store Electrical Energy: "Electrical cars have become a great way of having lower costs and helping to save the environment of pollution from the emission gases. Although, electrical vehicles also have disadvantages such as not having enough energy for driving distances and yet take hours of time to recharge which does not allow much power for acceleration. For only a part of time renewable sources such as wind and solar can deliver such a great amount of power, but this can be very expensive and is too inefficient to deliver enough power for surge demand with these devices."

The First Electric Freeway Is An Oregon Trail [Electric Cars] | Gizmodo Reviews.

The First Electric Freeway Is An Oregon Trail [Electric Cars] | Gizmodo Reviews.: "The First Electric Freeway Is An Oregon Trail [Electric Cars]
July 4th, 2010 Grace & Billy 228 Comments
Click here to read The First Electric Freeway Is An Oregon Trail

Interstate 5 crosses Washington state from Oregon to Canada. And later this year, work will begin to make it the first electric highway in the United States. It’s good to be a Volt owner in the Pacific Northwest."

EV WORLD CURRENTS: Funny, 100 Miles Is Now Good Enough

EV WORLD CURRENTS: Funny, 100 Miles Is Now Good Enough: "The Leaf's 24 kWh would, using the $500 figure, still cost a sizable, but more manageable $12,000.

While Deutsche Bank forecasts the kWh costs to eventually drop to around $250 by 2020, carmakers realize they can't wait until then to start engineering, building and servicing EVs. They are in a race not only against onrushing competitors (read China here), but the oil barrel itself."

Plugs and Cars: The electricity in gasoline

Plugs and Cars: The electricity in gasoline: "the electricity alone we use to refine petroleum each year could drive over 16,000,000 electric cars 12,000 miles each year"

Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs attention from an expert on the subject. See the talk page for details. WikiProject Automobiles or the Automobiles Portal may be able to help recruit an expert. (February 2010)

The high-power NiMH battery of a Toyota Prius

The patent encumbrance of large automotive NiMH batteries refers to the encumbrance of the commercialization of nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batterytechnology by corporate interests in the early 1990s and 2000s. Nickel metal hydride battery technology is important to the development of battery electric vehicles (BEVs or EVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).

Contents [hide] 1 Background 2 General Motors and the US Auto Battery Consortium 3 Chevron and Cobasys 4 Current status of the Ovonics battery technology 5 References

[edit]Background

The modern nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) electric vehicle battery was invented by Dr. Masahiko Oshitani, of the GS Yuasa Corporation, and Stanford Ovshinsky, the founder of the Ovonics Battery Company.^[1] The current trend in the industry is towards the development of lithium-ion (Li-Ion) technology to replace NiMH in electric vehicles. Some manufacturers maintain that NiMH batteries are important to the commercialization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV)s and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) because Li-Ion technology, while functionally superior due to its higher specific energy and specific power, is prohibitively expensive and relatively untested with regards to its long-term reliability.^[2]

[edit]General Motors and the US Auto Battery Consortium

The Ovonics technology was acquired by General Motors for use in its EV1 electric car, but production was ended shortly after the NiMH batteries began to replace the lead-acid batteries of earlier models

In an interview in the 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?, Ovshinsky stated that in the early 1990s, the auto industry created the US Auto Battery Consortium (USABC) to stifle the development of electric vehicle technology by preventing the dissemination of knowledge about Ovshinky's battery-related patents to the public through the California Air Resources Board (CARB).^[3]

According to Ovshinsky, the auto industry falsely suggested that NiMH technology was not yet ready for widespread use in road cars.^[4] Members of the USABC, including General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, threatened to take legal action against Ovshinsky if he continued to promote NiMH's potential for use in BEVs, and if he continued to lend test batteries to Solectria, a start-up electric vehicle maker that was not part of the USABC. The Big Three car companies argued that his behavior violated their exclusive rights to the battery technology, because they had matched a federal government grant given to Ovonics to develop NiMH technology. Critics argue that the Big Three were more interested in convincing CARB members that electric vehicles were not technologically and commercially viable.^[3]

In 1994, General Motors acquired a controlling interest in Ovonics's battery development and manufacture, including patents controlling the manufacture of large NiMH batteries. The original intent of the equity alliance was to develop NiMH batteries for GM's EV1 BEV. Sales of GM-Ovonics batteries were later taken over by GM manager and critic of CARB John Williams, leading Ovshinsky to wonder whether his decision to sell to GM had been naive.^[3] The EV1 program was shut down by GM before the new NiMH battery could be commercialized, despite field tests that indicated the Ovonics battery extended the EV1's range to over 150 miles.^[3]

[edit]Chevron and Cobasys

By 2001, the Ovonics technology was owned by the oil company Chevron.

In 2001, oil company Texaco purchased General Motors' share in GM Ovonics. Texaco was itself acquired by rival Chevron several months later. The same year, Ovonics filed a patent infringement suit against Toyota's battery supplier, Panasonic, that ultimately succeeded in restricting the use of its large format NiMH batteries to certain transportation uses.^[5] In 2003, Texaco Ovonics Battery Systems was restructured into Cobasys, a 50/50 joint venture between ChevronTexaco and Ovonics, now known as Energy Conversion Devices (ECD) Ovonics.^[6] Chevron's influence over Cobasys extends beyond a strict 50/50 joint venture. Chevron held a 19.99% interest in ECD Ovonics as of a public filing made January 15, 2003.^[7] In a later filing on May 17, 2005,^[8] Energy Conversion Devices announced that they had exercised an option to purchase back 4,376,633 shares of stock from a Chevron subsidiary, and would cancel and return them to authorized-unissued status. This is the exact number of shares that was listed as owned by ChevronTexaco in the January 15, 2003 filing.

ChevronTexaco also maintained veto power over any sale or licensing of NiMH technology.^[9] In addition, ChevronTexaco maintained the right to seize all of Cobasys' intellectual property rights in the event that ECD Ovonics did not fulfill its contractual obligations.^[9] On September 10, 2007, ChevronTexaco (now known as simply "Chevron") filed a legal claim that ECD Ovonics had not fulfilled its obligations. ECD Ovonics disputed this claim.^[10] The arbitration hearing was repeatedly suspended while the parties negotiated with General Motors over the sale of Cobasys back to GM. As of March 2008, no agreement had been reached with GM.^[11]

Cobasys contracts demonstrated that the company was willing to sell smaller NiMH batteries (less than 10 amp-hours) for use with hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). For instance, in March 2007, GM announced that it would use Cobasys NiMH batteries in the model year 2008 Chevrolet Malibu hybrid.^[12] Toyota uses NiMH batteries in all of its HEV models. However, Cobasys' sales policies raised questions about its willingness to sell larger format batteries for use in EVs and PHEVs.

In her 2007 book Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America, Sherry Boschert argues that large-format NiMH batteries (i.e., 25 amp-hours or more) are commercially viable but that Cobasys would only accept very large orders (more than 10,000) for these batteries. The effect is that this policy precludes small companies and individuals from buying them. It also precludes larger auto manufacturers from developing test fleets of new PHEV and EV designs. Toyota employees complained about the difficulty in getting smaller orders of large format NiMH batteries to service the existing 825 RAV4 EVs. Since no other companies were willing to make large orders, Cobasys was not manufacturing nor licensing any large format NiMH battery technology for automotive purposes. Boschert quotes Dave Goldstein, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Washington D.C., as saying this policy is necessary because the cost of setting up a multimillion dollar battery assembly line could not be justified without guaranteed orders of 100,000 batteries (~12,000 EVs) per year for 3 years. Boschert concludes that, "it's possible that Cobasys (Chevron) is squelching all access to large NiMH batteries through its control of patent licenses in order to remove a competitor to gasoline. Or it's possible that Cobasys simply wants the market for itself and is waiting for a major automaker to start producing plug-in hybrids or electric vehicles."^[13]

In an interview with The Economist, Ovshinsky subscribed to the former view. "I think we at ECD made a mistake of having a joint venture with an oil company, frankly speaking. And I think it's not a good idea to go into business with somebody whose strategies would put you out of business, rather than building the business."^[14] In the same interview, however, when asked, "So it’s your opinion that Cobasys is preventing other people from making it for that reason?", he responded, "Cobasys is not preventing anybody. Cobasys just needs an infusion of cash."

Critics also argue that historical evidence demonstrates the willingness of the oil industry to engage in such anti-competitive behavior. In 1949, the U.S. Supreme Court found Chevron (then known as Standard Oil of California) guilty of conspiring to buy and dismantle the Los Angeles electric street car system, in what became known as the Great American streetcar scandal.^[15] In an effort to prevent the passage of California's zero emission mandates in late 1993 and early 1994, oil companies also funded a series of ads that questioned the viability of electric vehicles.^[3]

Cobasys' problems with other potential customers also raised questions about the company's sales policies. In October 2007, International Acquisitions Services, Inc. and Innovative Transportation Systems AG filed suit against Cobasys and its parents for refusing to fill a large, previously agreed-upon order for large-format NiMH batteries to be used in the Innovan electric vehicle.^[11] In August 2008, Mercedes-Benz sued Cobasys for again refusing to fill a large, previously agreed-upon order for NiMH batteries.^[16]

[edit]Current status of the Ovonics battery technology

Multiple companies have tried to develop NiMH battery technology without making use of Ovonics' patents. Electro Energy Inc., working with CalCars, converted a Toyota Prius from a hybrid electric vehicle to a PHEV using its own bipolar NiMH batteries.^[17] Plug-In Conversions uses Nilar NiMH batteries and the EAA-PHEV open source control system in its Prius PHEV conversions. These organizations maintain that these developments are allowable because their NiMH battery technologies are not covered by Cobasys' patents. However, these batteries did not become commercially available until late 2007.^[18] The technical capabilities of current bipolar NiMH technology are also significantly more limited than those of the ECD Ovonics technology. For example, the operating temperature range for ECD Ovonics NiMH batteries, an important consideration for their use in consumer road vehicles, is -30 to 70 degrees celsius,^[19] while the operating temperature range for Nilar's bipolar batteries is a more limited -6 to 52 degrees celsius.^[20]

On July 28, 2009, Automotive News reported that Cobasys would be bought from Chevron and Energy Conversion Devices by battery maker SB LiMotive, a joint venture of Bosch and Samsung.^[21] At the time of the 2009 Cobasys sale, control of NiMH battery technology transferred back to ECD Ovonics.^[22] In October 2009, ECD Ovonics announced that their next-generation NiMH batteries will provide specific energy and power that are comparable to those of lithium ion batteries at a cost that is significantly lower than the cost of lithium ion batteries.^[23] It is unclear whether ECD Ovonics will continue to adhere to Cobasys' prohibitive minimum order sales policy.^{[citation needed]}

[edit]References

1. ^ "5 Things You Need to Know About Nickel-Metal-Hybrid Batteries". 2008-03-07. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
2. ^ http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aI7Ov7Jyo2nU
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} Shnayerson, Michael (1996-08-27). The Car That Could: The Inside Story of GM’s Revolutionary Electric Vehicle. Random House. pp. 194–207. ISBN 978-0679421054.
4. ^ Coker, M. (2003-05-15). "Dude, Wheres My Electric Car!?!". Orange County Weekly. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
5. ^ "US SEC Form 8-K, Energy Conversion Devices, Inc.". 2004-07-07. Retrieved 2007-08-08.
6. ^ Roberson, J. (2007-03-14). "Supplier Cobasys Exploring More Hybrid Batteries". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
7. ^ "ECD Ovonics Definitive Proxy Statement". 2003-01-15. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
8. ^ "ENERGY CONVERSION DEVICES, INC. Form 8K Current Report". 2005-05-17. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
9. ^ ^{a b} "ECD Ovonics Amended General Statement of Beneficial Ownership". 2004-12-02. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
10. ^ "ECD Ovonics 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending September 30, 2007". 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
11. ^ ^{a b} "ECD Ovonics 10-Q Quarterly Report for the period ending March 31, 2008". 2008-03-31. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
12. ^ http://www.cobasys.com/news/20070313.shtml
13. ^ Boschert, Sherry (2007-02-01). Plug-in Hybrids: The Cars that Will Recharge America. Gabriola Island: New Society Publishers. ISBN 9780865715714.
14. ^ Greenberg J. (2008-10-14). "The Edison of our Age: Stan Ovshinsky and the Future of Energy [Video Interview Part 1"]. The Energy Roadmap. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
15. ^ Hicks, Robert Eldridge (1973) Politics of land: Ralph Nader's study group report on land use in California, pp. 410–412, 488. Compiled by Robert C. Fellmeth, Center for Study of Responsive Law. Grossman Publishers.
16. ^ http://wot.motortrend.com/6278400/auto-news/mercedes-sues-cobasys-battery-supplier-ml450-hybrid-suv-delayed/index.html
17. ^ CalCars news "Electro Energy announces CalCars project". 2005-10-20. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
18. ^ Sebastian Blanco (2007-12-11). "EVS23: Kim Adelman's Plug-in Prius with Nilar nickel-metal hydride batteries". autobloggreen. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
19. ^ http://www.ovonic.com/PDFs/ovonic-materials/Ovonic-Fetcenko-2008-Wolsky-Seminar.pdf
20. ^ http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1403
21. ^ "Battery venture buys Cobasys". 2009-07-28. Retrieved 2009-10-08.
22. ^ Michael Fetcenko (2009-10-01). "Ovonic NiMH –Strong Now, Room for Growth". Ovonic. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
23. ^ http://www.ovonics.com/PDFs/Batteries2009OctoberNiceConference.pdf

Volt: The 5-pound iPod | themichiganview.com | The Michigan View

Volt: The 5-pound iPod | themichiganview.com | The Michigan View: "Chevy Volt, on the other hand, is the hypothetical five pound iPod - an unnecessary, unappealing, step backward. It fulfills an agenda, not consumer demand. If the green-happy, big government ideologues that have championed the Volt seriously believe it can succeed at its current price, with its current set of 'features,' they understand nothing of market forces.

They're in for a very rude awakening."

Hippies rejoice! VW unveils new microbus - Business - Autos - msnbc.com

Hippies rejoice! VW unveils new microbus - Business - Autos - msnbc.com: "Volkswagen AG is resurrecting its iconic microbus, which debuted in 1950 and became a favorite of hippies for its unique styling and copious space for travelers.

Volkswagen is showing a concept version of the van — known by its German nickname, the Bulli — at the Geneva Auto Show this week. Among the six-seater's modern twists: It's powered by an electric motor and uses an iPad to control the entertainment system, climate control and other functions."