The officers – 30-year-old Juan Martinez and 29-year-old Jonathan Lopez – were charged with official misconduct for violating Paterson Office of Emergency Management (OEM) regulations before and after the fatal crash.

Valdes’ press release said the volunteer officers witnessed the fatal crash, but did not stop and help the victim. It also said the officers had activated their siren in a manner as if they were conducting a motor vehicle stop, a violation of OEM procedures. Finally, the press release said they did not alert their supervisors or Paterson police about the crash.

The press release did not exactly what role the OEM vehicle played in the crash, but authorities indicated the investigation will continue. Some witnesses have said the auxiliary police officers caused the crash by speeding erratically down N. 1^st Streets. Others have said they saw the city vehicle hit Waddy.

Authorities say the auxiliary police were following Waddy to try to get him to slow down and he crashed into a parked vehicle, according to a story on northjersey.com.

City officials, Waddy’s family members and community leaders have said they feared the slow pace of the investigation meant authorities may try to cover-up the circumstances of the crash. Waddy was 31 when he was killed. The case had prompted several community protests and the City Council had considered asking state and federal authorities to intervene.

The prosecutor said the officers had been following Waddy’s motorcycle from a distance of less than 100 feet when the crash happened.  Officials previously have said that the auxiliary police officers drove directly to city police headquarters after the crash.

On April 18, the day after the crash, Paterson suspended the operations of its auxiliary police, an unpaid force used mainly to handle things like crowd control at public events, according to Police and Emergency Management Director Glenn Brown. The officers were on duty at the time of the crash, Brown has said.

Martinez, a Paterson resident, was driving the vehicle, according to the press release. The prosecutor said he is a sergeant and 12-year veteran of the unpaid volunteer OEM auxiliary police. He was arrested at the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office in Totowa and charged with one count of official misconduct, a second degree crime. Martinez was also charged with one count of hindering prosecution, a third degree offense.

Lopez, of Hackensack, has been an auxiliary officer for six years and was acting as Sgt. Martinez’ partner on the evening the crash occurred. Lopez has also been charged with one count of official misconduct in the second degree.

The prosecutor is recommending that Martinez’ bail be $100,000 and Lopez’ bail be $50,000.

The prosecutor’s Public Integrity Unit, working in conjunction with the Prosecutor’s Office Vehicular Homicide Unit and the Paterson Police Department’s Accident Reconstruction Unit, are working on the investigation, according to the press release.

Article source: http://thealternativepress.com/articles/two-city-auxiliary-police-officers-arrested-on-mi. Creative Commons (CC)

Ford declined to comment on the news. The people asked not to be named because the plans are confidential.

“We are still on track to begin shipping the Focus Electric this spring,” Ford spokesman Wes Sherwood said.

The Focus EV will compete in the burgeoning electric vehicle market against Nissan Motor Co’s Leaf and General Motors Co’s Chevrolet Volt.

In April, Chief Executive Alan Mulally said he would not consider it a failure if Ford sold fewer than 5,000 Focus EVs in its first year.

In the first four months of 2012, GM sold 5,377 Chevrolet Volts, while Nissan sold 2,103 of its Leaf electric cars. Both vehicles were launched in late 2010.

Ford expects hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric cars will represent up to 25 percent of its sales by 2020, with hybrids accounting for the majority.

Americans have been slow to adopt electric cars due to their high cost and concerns over their range. Automakers have also improved the fuel efficiency of their traditional gas-powered engines more quickly than expected.

But it is difficult to forecast what consumers will prefer in the future and so Ford modified its Focus platform to build electric and gas-powered versions on the same assembly line.

Ford’s move differs from by both GM and Nissan, which build different platforms for the Volt and Leaf.

Electrifying the platform allows Ford to maintain “reasonable margins” on its EVs, which tend to be costly because of the price of the battery, Mulally has said.

The battery used in an all-electric vehicle, such as the Focus EV, can cost between $12,000 and $15,000. That would represent around a third of the Focus Electric’s overall price of around $39,000.

(Editing by Andre Grenon)

Article source: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-05-18/classified/sns-rt-us-ford-focusbre84h19n-20120518_1_focus-electric-electric-cars-electric-vehicle-market. Creative Commons (CC)

The state extended the program twice, adding $500,000 in an effort to stimulate demand for electric vehicles as a way for Hawaii to work toward reducing the state’s oil consumption. Hawaii seeks to become 70 percent energy independent by 2030.

But high consumer demand led to depleting the fund earlier than expected. Funds ran out earlier this month after the state issued more than 450 rebates. Officials had hoped to keep the program going until November. The program provided motorists $4,500 toward the purchase of new electric vehicles and up to $500 for chargers.

“The public demand has exceeded expectations, and we are happy to report Hawaii consumers are adopting EVs (electric vehicles) much more readily than the national average,” said Mark Glick, energy program administrator for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism’s Energy Office.

Hawaii also awarded $2.6 million in federal stimulus grants toward more than 230 public charging stations statewide.

There were 422 highway-capable electric vehicles sold in Hawaii last year. There were 361 Nissan Leafs sold, which were introduced in Hawaii last year. Mitsubishi sold 31 of its all-electric vehicles. There were 30 plug-in hybrid Chevrolet Volts sold.

Electric vehicle drivers on the islands don’t have to pay for parking when they park in a metered spot, and they may drive in carpool lanes on freeways.

Federal tax incentives of up to $7,500 are still available.

Article source: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/561265/Demand-drains-state-s-electric-vehicle-rebates.html?nav=5031. Creative Commons (CC)

“Se trata de mezclar lo mejor de dos mundos”, afirmó Bob Carter, Vicepresidente del grupo y Director General de la división de Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. “El nuevo RAV4 EV combina la eficiencia de un EV con la versatilidad de un todocamino compacto; de hecho, es el único todocamino totalmente eléctrico del mercado”.

El RAV4 EV combina una batería y un motor eléctrico diseñados y producidos por Tesla con el modelo de todocamino más popular de Toyota. El equipo conjunto se fijó como objetivo perfeccionar la experiencia del cliente. Desde las opciones avanzadas de recarga hasta el confort interior o los indicadores interactivos, el vehículo ha sido diseñado pensando en la facilidad de uso para los clientes y la máxima autonomía posible.

La propulsión delantera del RAV4 EV permite a los conductores seleccionar dos modos de conducción claramente diferenciados: Sport y Normal. En el modo Sport, el vehículo acelera de 0 a 96,5 km/h en solo 7,0 segundos, y tiene una velocidad máxima de 161 km/h. El modo normal acelera de 0 a 96,5 km/h en 8,6 segundos, con una velocidad punta de 137 km/h. La potencia máxima del sistema eléctrico es de 154 CV (115 kW) a 2.800 rpm.

El RAV4 EV ofrece una marcha excepcionalmente suave y silenciosa y un manejo cómodo, en parte gracias a su reducido coeficiente de resistencia y su bajo centro de gravedad. De hecho, el RAV4 EV presenta un coeficiente de resistencia aerodinámica de 0,30 Cd, más bajo que cualquier otro todocamino del mundo. En comparación con el RAV4 con motor de gasolina, Toyota ha rediseñado el paragolpes delantero, las rejillas superior e inferior, los retrovisores, el alerón trasero y el chasis inferior para maximizar el flujo de aire alrededor del vehículo. La batería del RAV4 EV está montada lo más abajo posible en el centro del vehículo, lo que le confiere una marcha más similar a un sedán.

En el exterior, los faros delanteros superiores del RAV4 EV cuentan con proyectores LED para las luces de cruce y proyectores halógenos para las luces largas. Un sistema de nivelado manual permite a los clientes redireccionar los faros cuando la inclinación del vehículo varía de forma significativa a causa del peso de la carga. Cinco LED verticales conforman las luces de circulación diurna, que se atenúan a luces de posición. Los faros traseros combinados emplean luces LED acentuadas por unas exclusivas lentes externas ligeramente ahumadas. Otras variaciones exteriores con respecto al RAV4 con motor de gasolina son las nuevas insignias exteriores delante, detrás y en los paneles de las puertas delanteras.

Por dentro, el asiento del conductor regulable en seis direcciones incorpora calefacción variable, que se extiende al respaldo superior del pasajero. Los asientos traseros reclinables divididos, con reposabrazos central plegable, se pueden abatir para ampliar el volumen del maletero hasta una capacidad de carga total equivalente a la del RAV4 convencional, de 2.067 litros. Los componentes EV no implican ninguna pérdida de espacio interior en el vehículo.

El elemento más destacado del interior es una pantalla táctil capacitiva de ocho pulgadas con una interfaz gráfica de tecnología avanzada, que incorpora navegación, telemática e información del EV, así como parámetros diseñados específicamente para el RAV4 EV.

El proveedor de equipamiento para vehículos eléctricos autorizado por Toyota es Leviton, que ofrece varias opciones de recarga. Para el tiempo de recarga más corto, de unas seis horas, Leviton ofrece una estación de recarga personalizada de 240 V (Nivel 2), 40 A y 9,6 kW de potencia. Para obtener más información, visite Leviton.com/Toyota. El vehículo va equipado con un cable de carga de emergencia de 120 V (Nivel 1) para aquellos casos en que no esté disponible la carga recomendada de 240 V (Nivel 2).

El RAV4 EV saldrá a la venta en Estados Unidos a finales de verano de 2012 en varios concesionarios. En un principio el vehículo estará disponible en cuatro grandes mercados metropolitanos de California: Sacramento, Bahía de San Francisco, Los Ángeles/Orange County y San Diego. El volumen de ventas previsto es de unas 2.600 unidades en los tres próximos años. La garantía de la batería es de 8 años o 160.000 kilómetros.

“Creemos que el RAV4 EV atraerá a personas sofisticadas y amantes de la tecnología, de forma similar a la primera generación del Prius”, explicó Carter. “Está diseñado para clientes que dan prioridad al medio ambiente y valoran las prestaciones. Tenemos ganas de ver cómo responde el mercado”.

En julio de 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation y Tesla Motors anunciaron conjuntamente un acuerdo para desarrollar una versión totalmente eléctrica del RAV4, con la intención de comercializar el vehículo en 2012. Tesla aportó sus conocimientos sobre la tecnología de EV, un espíritu audaz, una toma de decisiones rápida y una gran flexibilidad. Toyota aportó sus conocimientos de diseño, ingeniería, fabricación y producción. En un sector en que los ciclos de desarrollo suelen durar cinco años, Toyota y Tesla han llevado al mercado un producto dinámico en menos de la mitad de tiempo.

Article source: http://www.el4x4.com/spa/item/ART09217.html. Creative Commons (CC)

Cette voiture concrétise les dernières évolutions de la motorisation Full-Hybrid (la technologie 100% hybride de Toyota) dont près de 4 millions d’unités ont été vendues par le groupe depuis 15 ans.

Elle est dotée d’une nouvelle batterie plus compacte à l’ion-lithium conforme aux rigoureuses exigences de fiabilité et de longévité de la marque. Grâce à son gain d’autonomie, la Prius Rechargeable affiche une consommation particulièrement basse (2,1 l / 100 km ) et ses émissions de CO2 chutent à 49 g / km (*). Contrairement aux diesels, elle ne rejette aucune particule.

En mode « tout électrique », elle possède une autonomie de 25 km, ce qui représente 60% des déplacements quotidiens des français, en semaine. Au-delà, sa motorisation essence-électrique lui assure une véritable polyvalence, quelles que soient les distances parcourues, sans le risque de la panne d’électricité des VE et tout en conservant la très basse consommation de carburant de la Prius classique. Son bonus écologique gouvernemental est de 5 000 €.

(*) En cours d’homologation européenne.

Article source: http://pro.largus.fr/s_informer/economie/auchan-et-toyota-ont-inaugure-une-borne-electrique-a-bretigny-sur-orge-1622368.html. Creative Commons (CC)

ROSH HAAYIN, Israel (AP) — Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has begun rolling out the world’s first nationwide electric car network. Now, will the drivers come?

After more than $400 million in outlays and months behind schedule, dozens of electric cars have hit the road in Israel, the test site Agassi chose for his Better Place venture. Four stations where the cars can get a new dose of juice when their batteries run out are operating, and the plan is to ramp that number up within months.

The concept: to wean the world from oil and eliminate the biggest hurdles to environmentally friendly electric cars – high cost and limited range.

To do this, Better Place has jettisoned the fixed battery. Instead, drivers can swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a network of stations, receiving a full, 160-kilometer (100-mile) range in five minutes. Better Place owns the batteries, bringing down the purchase price of the cars using the network.

People driving shorter distances, the vast majority of customers, can plug in their batteries each day to chargers installed at their homes, offices and public locations, which will fully recharge in six to eight hours.

He faces a wall of skepticism. A major concern is “range anxiety”: Will the car conk out because its battery is drained, stranding the driver in a dicey neighborhood, en route to the hospital, or with three wailing kids in back?

Rising fuel prices worldwide still haven’t sent electric car sales surging, noted U.S.-based automotive expert John McElroy. “It may not be an energy price issue,” he said. “Consumers may simply decide that electric cars don’t offer the range they need.”

Agassi, a former top executive at software giant SAP AG, said he is ready to prove his doubters wrong. “We’re driving a car that most people said would be a fantasy,” he said.

The swappable battery model aims to reassure drivers about range and show they don’t need to sacrifice convenience or cash to switch to electric.

So far, the four Better Place battery stations are set up in central and northern Israel. During the second half of the year, around 40 stations are due to be operating across the country. But even before that, the company says enough will be up that a motorist could make the 500-kilometer (300-mile) drive from Israel’s northern tip to its southern end.

Agassi has raised $750 million from investors including General Electric Co. and HSBC Holdings PLC since founding Better Place 4 1/2 years ago.

French automaker Renault has begun selling a sedan, the Fluence, customized to use the stations, priced in Israel at roughly $32,000, comparable to other sedans sold here. Currently, about 140 are on the road, most driven by Better Place employees.

The Fluence should start becoming available to the general public within weeks. Leasing companies, which buy about two-thirds of the more than 200,000 new cars sold annually in Israel, have ordered more than 1,800, and private customers have ordered several hundred more.

Compared to electric or hybrid cars in other markets, the sales numbers in this nation of nearly 8 million might not be as humble as they seem: In 2011, Chevrolet sold about 7,700 Volts and Nissan sold under 10,000 LEAFs in the U.S., which has a population of more than 310 million.

“It interests all fleet managers we talk to,” said Shai Dahan, CEO of Eldan Transportation, a top Israeli leasing group.

Better Place, which had promised to have thousands of cars on the road last year, acknowledges the rollout is behind schedule, mostly because of bureaucratic hurdles and production issues at Renault.

Better Place has also spent years testing its integrated system designed to allow its operation center, which is connected to every car, to monitor the vehicles and correct problems remotely. For instance, its software notifies drivers when their batteries are running low and directs them to the nearest switching station.

Israel sales director Zohar Bali predicts up to 5,000 Fluences will be silently running on Israeli roads and highways within a year.

Israel was chosen for the experiment in part because of its tech-savvy population. Also, with 80 percent of the population living in a narrow, densely populated stretch along the Mediterranean coast, it provides a perfect laboratory for the charging network.

Better Place claims it can shave up to 20 percent off the annual cost of owning a car, especially if gas prices, now around $8 a gallon here, continue to rise. Drivers buy access to the switching stations and charging spots through a monthly package ranging from under $300 to over $500, depending on mileage.

Israelis are taking notice. Better Place says more than 80,000 people have trekked to its visitor’s center, situated at an abandoned oil reserves depot outside Tel Aviv.

What happens in Israel could decide how broadly Better Place deploys.

So far the Fluence is the only model compatible with the grid, but Renault’s Middle East director, Jean-Christophe Pierson, says the company is considering a more compact model. Better Place is also in contact with other carmakers.

Denmark is set to become Better Place’s second launch site this year. Australia is to become its first major market, with deployment in the capital, Canberra, also this year. Small-scale projects are in place in Hawaii and California. Amsterdam is the next European target after Denmark.

The company also has its sights set on China, where it already has opened a demonstration battery switching station.

Agassi sees the “tipping point” for electric cars coming in two to three years, propelled by dropping prices of cars and batteries. By 2017, he expects 50 percent of all new car sales in Israel to be electric.

The largest investor is The Israel Corp., whose holdings include Israel’s biggest oil refinery and deep water oil drilling.

Idan Ofer, whose family controls The Israel Corp. and who serves as Better Place’s chairman, said he saw no contradiction between his oil and clean-tech holdings.

Film giant Kodak “knew about digital photography. And look what happened. They still went bankrupt because they didn’t do anything about it,” observed Ofer. “There are many examples. I don’t want to be there.”

Article source: http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_ELECTRIC_CAR?SITE=NDBIS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-05-19-02-30-09. Creative Commons (CC)

Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has begun rolling out the world’s first nationwide electric car network. Now, will the drivers come?

After more than $400 million in outlays and months behind schedule, dozens of electric cars have hit the road in Israel, the test site Agassi chose for his Better Place venture. Four stations where the cars can get a new dose of juice when their batteries run out are operating, and the plan is to ramp that number up within months.

The concept: to wean the world from oil and eliminate the biggest hurdles to environmentally friendly electric cars – high cost and limited range.

To do this, Better Place has jettisoned the fixed battery. Instead, drivers can swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a network of stations, receiving a full, 160-kilometer (100-mile) range in five minutes. Better Place owns the batteries, bringing down the purchase price of the cars using the network.

People driving shorter distances, the vast majority of customers, can plug in their batteries each day to chargers installed at their homes, offices and public locations, which will fully recharge in six to eight hours.

He faces a wall of skepticism. A major concern is “range anxiety”: Will the car conk out because its battery is drained, stranding the driver in a dicey neighborhood, en route to the hospital, or with three wailing kids in back?

Rising fuel prices worldwide still haven’t sent electric car sales surging, noted U.S.-based automotive expert John McElroy. “It may not be an energy price issue,” he said. “Consumers may simply decide that electric cars don’t offer the range they need.”

Agassi, a former top executive at software giant SAP AG, said he is ready to prove his doubters wrong. “We’re driving a car that most people said would be a fantasy,” he said.

The swappable battery model aims to reassure drivers about range and show they don’t need to sacrifice convenience or cash to switch to electric.

So far, the four Better Place battery stations are set up in central and northern Israel. During the second half of the year, around 40 stations are due to be operating across the country. But even before that, the company says enough will be up that a motorist could make the 500-kilometer (300-mile) drive from Israel’s northern tip to its southern end.

Agassi has raised $750 million from investors including General Electric Co. and HSBC Holdings PLC since founding Better Place 4 1/2 years ago.

French automaker Renault has begun selling a sedan, the Fluence, customized to use the stations, priced in Israel at roughly $32,000, comparable to other sedans sold here. Currently, about 140 are on the road, most driven by Better Place employees.

The Fluence should start becoming available to the general public within weeks. Leasing companies, which buy about two-thirds of the more than 200,000 new cars sold annually in Israel, have ordered more than 1,800, and private customers have ordered several hundred more.

Compared to electric or hybrid cars in other markets, the sales numbers in this nation of nearly 8 million might not be as humble as they seem: In 2011, Chevrolet sold about 7,700 Volts and Nissan sold under 10,000 LEAFs in the U.S., which has a population of more than 310 million.

“It interests all fleet managers we talk to,” said Shai Dahan, CEO of Eldan Transportation, a top Israeli leasing group.

Better Place, which had promised to have thousands of cars on the road last year, acknowledges the rollout is behind schedule, mostly because of bureaucratic hurdles and production issues at Renault.

Better Place has also spent years testing its integrated system designed to allow its operation center, which is connected to every car, to monitor the vehicles and correct problems remotely. For instance, its software notifies drivers when their batteries are running low and directs them to the nearest switching station.

Israel sales director Zohar Bali predicts up to 5,000 Fluences will be silently running on Israeli roads and highways within a year.

Israel was chosen for the experiment in part because of its tech-savvy population. Also, with 80 percent of the population living in a narrow, densely populated stretch along the Mediterranean coast, it provides a perfect laboratory for the charging network.

Better Place claims it can shave up to 20 percent off the annual cost of owning a car, especially if gas prices, now around $8 a gallon here, continue to rise. Drivers buy access to the switching stations and charging spots through a monthly package ranging from under $300 to over $500, depending on mileage.

Israelis are taking notice. Better Place says more than 80,000 people have trekked to its visitor’s center, situated at an abandoned oil reserves depot outside Tel Aviv.

What happens in Israel could decide how broadly Better Place deploys.

So far the Fluence is the only model compatible with the grid, but Renault’s Middle East director, Jean-Christophe Pierson, says the company is considering a more compact model. Better Place is also in contact with other carmakers.

Denmark is set to become Better Place’s second launch site this year. Australia is to become its first major market, with deployment in the capital, Canberra, also this year. Small-scale projects are in place in Hawaii and California. Amsterdam is the next European target after Denmark.

The company also has its sights set on China, where it already has opened a demonstration battery switching station.

Agassi sees the “tipping point” for electric cars coming in two to three years, propelled by dropping prices of cars and batteries. By 2017, he expects 50 percent of all new car sales in Israel to be electric.

The largest investor is The Israel Corp., whose holdings include Israel’s biggest oil refinery and deep water oil drilling.

Idan Ofer, whose family controls The Israel Corp. and who serves as Better Place’s chairman, said he saw no contradiction between his oil and clean-tech holdings.

Film giant Kodak “knew about digital photography. And look what happened. They still went bankrupt because they didn’t do anything about it,” observed Ofer. “There are many examples. I don’t want to be there.”

Article source: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2018240997_apmlisraelelectriccar.html. Creative Commons (CC)

“The multi-disciplinary, system of systems that is Smart Grid presents
great complexity and requires innovation and adaptation in the
development of its many components and systems”

“The multi-disciplinary, system of systems that is Smart Grid presents
great complexity and requires innovation and adaptation in the
development of its many components and systems,” said Massoud Amin,
chair of the IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter. “The May issue of the IEEE
Smart Grid Newsletter identifies several areas of complexity and offers
pathways forward. For example, as Smart Grid, telecommunications, and
information and communications technologies come together, many of the
tools, models, and algorithms developed for telecommunications and the
Web can be customized effectively for Smart Grid.”

The May IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter features these authors and articles:

Vibhor Julka and Ronald Mao specify the enhancements
required for broadband wireless networks to efficiently carry the
communications of an Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Vibhor Julka is a
member of IEEE and has over 17 years of experience in telecom industry
system design and 3G/4G wireless standards development. Ronald Mao is a
member of IEEE and a contributor to 3G/4G wireless standards. He is a
senior manager at Huawei Technologies USA, Inc.

Inaki Laresgoiti relates the new role distribution networks will
take in future intelligent grids, with the integration of most renewable
and distributed resources and the requirement of extensive use of
information and communication technologies. Since 1989, Inaki Laresgoiti
has headed the field of support systems for network operation at Labein
and later on Tecnalia, both in Spain.

Kwok W. Cheung foresees that a smarter dispatch system and better
predictive model for generation resources is required to cope with the
new uncertainties. Kwok Cheung is a senior member of IEEE. He is also
the RD director, market management systems, at Alstom Grid in the US.

Antonello Monti and Ferdinanda Ponci explain that the
realization of Smart Grid will require changes and evolution in
education and training systems, numerical simulator tools and testing
environments, and analysis methods and design, to handle its massive
complexity. Antonello Monti is a senior member, IEEE, and the
director of the Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, E.ON
Energy Research Center, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule
Aachen University, Aachen, Germany. Ferdinanda Ponci is also a senior
member of IEEE and is with the Institute for Automation of Complex Power
Systems.

To subscribe to the IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter at no cost, go to: http://smartgrid.ieee.org/publications/smart-grid-newsletter.

An RSS feed of the monthly Newsletter is also available: http://smartgrid.ieee.org/newsletter?format=feedtype=rss.

For further details about the IEEE Smart Grid Newsletter and information
on IEEE Smart Grid standards, publications, and conferences, please
visit http://smartgrid.ieee.org/.
Follow @ieeesmartgrid on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ieeesmartgrid.
Join IEEE Smart Grid on LinkedIn: IEEE Smart Grid.

About IEEE

IEEE, the world’s largest technical professional organization, is
dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through
its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and
professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice on a
wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and
telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and
consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org/.

Article source: http://eon.businesswire.com/news/eon/20120517005962/en/distribution-networks/advanced-metering-infrastructure/AMI. Creative Commons (CC)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

An electric car is connected to a charging station operated by Israeli-American company “Better Place,” in Kiryat Ekron, Israel, in 2011. Better Place, says it has secured an additional $200 million in financing to create the world’s first network of charging stations for electric cars.

Associated Press

Friday, May 18, 2012 | 11:49 p.m.

Israeli entrepreneur Shai Agassi has begun rolling out the world’s first nationwide electric car network. Now, will the drivers come?

After more than $400 million in outlays and more than a year behind schedule, dozens of electric cars have hit the road in Israel, the test site Agassi chose for his Better Place venture. Four stations where the cars can get a new dose of juice when their batteries run out are operating, and the plan is to ramp that number up within months.

The concept: to wean the world from oil and eliminate the biggest hurdles to environmentally friendly electric cars — high cost and limited range.

To do this, Better Place has jettisoned the fixed battery. Instead, drivers can swap their depleted batteries for fully charged ones at a network of stations, receiving a full, 160-kilometer (100-mile) range in five minutes. Better Place owns the batteries, bringing down the purchase price of the cars using the network.

People driving shorter distances, the vast majority of customers, can plug in their batteries each day to chargers installed at their homes, offices and public locations, which will fully recharge in six to eight hours.

He faces a wall of skepticism. A major concern is “range anxiety”: Will the car conk out because its battery is drained, stranding the driver in a dicey neighborhood, en route to the hospital, or with three wailing kids in back?

Rising fuel prices worldwide still haven’t sent electric car sales surging, noted U.S.-based automotive expert John McElroy. “It may not be an energy price issue,” he said. “Consumers may simply decide that electric cars don’t offer the range they need.”

Agassi, a former top executive at software giant SAP AG, said he is ready to prove his doubters wrong. “We’re driving a car that most people said would be a fantasy,” he said.

The swappable battery model aims to reassure drivers about range and show they don’t need to sacrifice convenience or cash to switch to electric.

So far, the four Better Place battery stations are set up in central and northern Israel. During the second half of the year, around 40 stations are due to be operating across the country. But even before that, the company says enough will be up that a motorist could make the 500-kilometer (300-mile) drive from Israel’s northern tip to its southern end.

Agassi has raised $750 million from investors including General Electric Co. and HSBC Holdings PLC since founding Better Place 4 1/2 years ago.

French automaker Renault has begun selling a sedan, the Fluence, customized to use the stations, priced in Israel at roughly $32,000, comparable to other sedans sold here. Currently, about 140 are on the road, most driven by Better Place employees.

The Fluence should start becoming available to the general public within weeks. Leasing companies, which buy about two-thirds of the more than 200,000 new cars sold annually in Israel, have ordered more than 1,800, and private customers have ordered several hundred more.

Compared to electric or hybrid cars in other markets, the sales numbers in this nation of 6 million might not be as humble as they seem: In 2011, Chevrolet sold about 7,700 Volts and Nissan sold under 10,000 LEAFs in the U.S., which has a population of more than 310 million.

“It interests all fleet managers we talk to,” said Shai Dahan, CEO of Eldan Transportation, a top Israeli leasing group.

Better Place, which had promised to have thousands of cars on the road last year, acknowledges the rollout is behind schedule, mostly because of bureaucratic hurdles and production issues at Renault.

Better Place has also spent years testing its integrated system designed to allow its operation center, which is connected to every car, to monitor the vehicles and correct problems remotely. For instance, its software notifies drivers when their batteries are running low and directs them to the nearest switching station.

Israel sales director Zohar Bali predicts up to 5,000 Fluences will be silently running on Israeli roads and highways within a year.

Israel was chosen for the experiment in part because of its tech-savvy population. Also, with 80 percent of the population living in a narrow, densely populated stretch along the Mediterranean coast, it provides a perfect laboratory for the charging network.

Better Place claims it can shave up to 20 percent off the annual cost of owning a car, especially if gas prices, now around $8 a gallon here, continue to rise. Drivers buy access to the switching stations and charging spots through a monthly package ranging from under $300 to over $500, depending on mileage.

Israelis are taking notice. Better Place says more than 80,000 people in this country of 7.8 million have trekked to its visitor’s center, situated at an abandoned oil reserves depot outside Tel Aviv.

What happens in Israel could decide how broadly Better Place deploys.

So far the Fluence is the only model compatible with the grid, but Renault’s Middle East director, Jean-Christophe Pierson, says the company is considering a more compact model. Better Place is also in contact with other carmakers.

Denmark is set to become Better Place’s second launch site this year. Australia is to become its first major market, with deployment in the capital, Canberra, also this year. Small-scale projects are in place in Hawaii and California. Amsterdam is the next European target after Denmark.

The company also has its sights set on China, where it already has opened a demonstration battery switching station.

Agassi sees the “tipping point” for electric cars coming in two to three years, propelled by dropping prices of cars and batteries. By 2017, he expects 50 percent of all new car sales in Israel to be electric.

The largest investor is The Israel Corp., whose holdings include Israel’s biggest oil refinery and deep water oil drilling.

Idan Ofer, whose family controls The Israel Corp. and who serves as Better Place’s chairman, said he saw no contradiction between his oil and clean-tech holdings.

Film giant Kodak “knew about digital photography. And look what happened. They still went bankrupt because they didn’t do anything about it,” observed Ofer. “There are many examples. I don’t want to be there.”

Article source: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2012/may/18/ml-israel-electric-car/. Creative Commons (CC)

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VIVAnews – Raksasa otomotif Jepang, Honda, memperkenalkan kendaraan revolusioner yang diberi nama Uni Cub. Bentuk kendaraan ini menyerupai tempat duduk mobil, namun tidak dilengkapi kemudi.

Uni Cub memiliki satu roda utama, sedangkan roda kecil di bagian belakangnya berfungsi untuk melakukan gerakan berputar. Uni Cub hanya didesain dikendarai oleh satu orang. Tidak seperti sepeda, Uni Cub tidak menyediakan jok belakang untuk pembonceng.

Untuk menggerakkan Uni Cub, kita hanya perlu menggerakkan badan sesuai dengan arah yang kita inginkan. Sementara untuk menghentikan Uni Cub, kita hanya perlu menurunkan kaki sehingga kendaraan personal ini akan otomatis berhenti.

Didukung oleh baterai ion lithium isi ulang, kendaraan yang mengadopsi teknologi humanoid robotik ini dapat melaju hingga kecepatan 6,4 km per jam dan dapat menahan beban hingga 100 kg. Uni Cub diperkirakan bisa menjadi kendaraan transportasi masa depan.

Namun Honda belum berencana memasarkan Uni Cub secara komersial. Uni Cub sejauh ini dipamerkan di museum sains Tokyo, Jepang. Lihat seperti apa cara menggunakan kendaraan futuristik itu di sini.

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Article source: http://teknologi.vivanews.com/news/read/314905-video--uni-cub--kendaraan-humanoid-robotik. Creative Commons (CC)