ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Two technology companies unveiled "rapid chargers" in January that one CEO called "a major [image-nocss] leap forward for electric vehicles." Electric-car maker Think, Dearborn, Mich., announced at the Washington Auto Show that it is partnering with AeroVironment to commercialize its rapid chargers. This could mean charging an electric car to about 80% capacity in 15 minutes, according to a report on HybridCars.com.
Earlier in the month, Aker Wade Power Technologies, Charlottesville, Va., and Coulomb Technologies announced an agreement to develop public charging stations capable of charging an electric vehicle in 30 minutes or less. Allowing electric-car drivers to fully recharge in minutes rather than hours could alleviate "range anxiety," the concern that a pure electric car could run out of energy and its driver could be stranded for hours until the vehicle is adequately recharged, the website reported.
HYDROGEN VEHICLES
Prospects of seeing hydrogen vehicles available commercially anytime soon have looked increasingly bleak. U.S. President Barack Obama has refused to provide significant federal funding to hydrogen vehicle development, supporting battery electric vehicles instead. In addition, recent research reports indicate that hydrogen would actually release more net greenhouse gas emissions than traditional gasoline, when analyzed over the entire life cycle.
However, a ray of light emerged for the hydrogen industry in January. Connecticut-based SunHydro has announced plans to transform Interstate 95 into a hydrogen highway, according to a report in the Daily Tech. I-95 stretches along the East Coast from Maine to Florida and is one of the nation's busiest interstate highways.
SunHydro will construct 11 stations on the highway. Each station will be a self-contained hydrolysis unit with solar power collectors attached. The solar power will provide energy to create hydrogen from water via hydrolysis, according to the report. The hydrogen production system will come from Proton Energy, an alternative energy start-up.
"Our goal is to make it possible for a hydrogen car to drive from Maine to Miami strictly on sun and water, said company president Michael Grey. "Having talked to several of the auto manufacturers, the indication that we've received is that there has to be a network of stations on the East Coast for them to bring the cars here. They want to bring the cars here, but there's nowhere to fuel them."
Once that is complete, the company's second goal is to establish an East Coast-to-West Coast corridor.
Speaking of hydrogen cars, Honda Motor Co., the first company approved to sell such vehicles to American drivers, began testing a solar-powered hydrogen-fueling device for home use to address a lack of public hydrogen-fuel stations in the United States.
The solar-powered pump, which began operating in January at Honda's U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif., makes half a kilogram of hydrogen gas per day, enough for an average daily commute, the company told the Detroit News. The zero-emission fuel is created from water and electricity produced by 6 kilowatts of rooftop solar panels made by Honda.
COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS
Meanwhile, the city of Owasso, Okla., has begun a project to pump nostalgia into environment-friendly fuel. The City Council OK'd a concept to build a replica of a historic filling station along Main Street that will incorporate operational Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) pumps into the configuration, according to a Tulsa World report.
An application recently was approved for a CNG conversion for the city, which would pour $1.7 million in state-distributed federal stimulus funds into converting up to 50 of its gasoline-powered vehicles to CNG.
LIQUIFIED NATURAL GAS
And privately owned trucks and cars could soon join Tulare, Calif.'s city buses and garbage trucks in fueling up at the city's liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) station.
Clean Energy, the company that provides fuel to the station, is proposing investing $500,000 in the city-owned fueling station, taking over station management and opening it to the public, according to a report in the Tulare Advance-Register.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.