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Ford Wants To Connect Plug-In Cars To The Cloud

Ford Wants To Connect Plug-In Cars To The Cloud

From 'Gas' site:

EPRI Focus Electric Infographic Hero

The rise of plug-in vehicles brings with it many benefits and opportunities to improve industries beyond the automobile. Ford has joined an effort with seven other automakers to develop a universal language between cars and utilities that will let the two communicate via the cloud for a variety of purposes.

Ford is joined by Honda, BMW, Chrysler, Mercedes, Mitsubishi, GM, and Toyota, along with power companies across the United States in develop a method for all cars and utilities to easily communicate. The two-way communication could, for example, be used to stagger the charging of plug-in vehicles so as to not overload the grid around dinner time. The opt-in program will offer financial incentives to participants as the companies try to encourage being part of a bigger electrical ecosystem.

Smart homes equipped with integrated air conditioning systems already do something similar, alternating use during periods of high demand to prevent an overload. Another potential benefit to this system down the road will be the ability of utilities to store and draw-upon energy stored in the big battery banks of many electric vehicles. This would make storing green energy from wind or solar power a lot more feasible with careful regulation, and studies have shown that connected smart homes use as much as 88% less electricity than the average dwelling.

Of course there are those privacy advocates who don’t like the idea of the power company determining when they plug-in, and for now there’s the option to decline the utility’s request to pause charging.

There are drawbacks to such a system though. What should happen if an unforeseen emergency arises, and your was remotely disconnected without enough charge to get you where you need to go? Not even the best algorithms can predict a dislocated shoulder or a stranded friend. I’d have to think long and hard before clicking the “Accept” button.


EPRI_FocusElectric_hero[1].jpg
 
BYD Lancaster eBus Is The World’s Largest Electric Vehicle (sorry voor het Engels)

BYD Lancaster eBus Is The World’s Largest Electric Vehicle (sorry voor het Engels)

BYD-lancaster-ebus






This week in Houston at the 2014 American Public Transportation Expo, Chinese automaker BYD revealed the Lancaster eBus, which it claims is the world’s largest electric vehicle. At 60-feet in length and designed and built in the U.S., BYD hopes its articulated can cut out a large slice of the public transportation pie.

Designed and built for two years in the California city of Lancaster, BYD claims a driving range of 170+ miles with a full load of 120 passengers, which the company says is enough juice to last a full day. During off-peak hours, recharging can be done between 2 and 4 hours, meaning the eLancaster can get right back to work before the next shift starts. BYD says that company testers have traveled as far as 750 miles in 24 hours using fast charging systems in earlier bus designs.

Alongside the 60-foot bendy bus BYD also debuted a second-generation 40-foot bus that has since gone to work for the Antelope Valley Transit Authority. But the real key technology here is the iron-phosphate batteries at the heart of the bus, which are totally recyclable and more fire-resistant than typical lithium-ion batteries. BYD claims that even after 10,000 charge cycles, the batteries maintain 70% of their initial capacity, allowing for a typical lifespan of about 25 years. Add to that extremely low operating costs (to drive 1,500 miles only cost testers about $200 worth of electricity) and you’ve got an extremely cost effective form of public transportation that gets continuously greener as the grid becomes greener too.

But BYD isn’t the only company making a go at green public transit, as America’s own Proterra has managed to convince several municipalities that their electric buses are the way to go. Being able to lay claim to the title of world’s largest EV may look good on paper, but it still comes down to dollars and cents.
 

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Electro-Hybrid porsche-918-spyder ijna uitverkocht. Dus: haasten!

Electro-Hybrid porsche-918-spyder ijna uitverkocht. Dus: haasten!

$847,000 Porsche 918 Spyder Nearly Sold Out



The world might be spiraling towards record levels of wealth inequality, but depending on where you sit that might not be a bad thing. According to executives the limited-production, $847,000 Porsche 918 Spyder is just about sold out, reports Automotive News.

Porsche isn’t divulging exact production numbers for the 918 Spyder, saying only that about 30 had been delivered since production began last fall, and production should run through the end of July 2015. So far the production schedule is full all the way through March, and while the company won’t say exactly how many are made every month, it obviously isn’t many. I’m thinking like, two per month if the 918 has been in production for a full year and just 30 have been delivered. That means there is maybe another 15 or 20 left before Porsche closes the book on the 918. That would bring total production to just 50 units, just one-tenth of the estimated 499 unit run of its main competitor, the Ferarri LaFerrari. Of course Porsche also has a much broader vehicle portfolio that includes the Panamera sedan, by itself has more than twice as many sales in 2014 as Ferrari’s total 2013 output.

So if you’re one of the lucky few benefitting from the growing gap between rich and poor, by all means and indulge yourself in a 887 horsepower hypercar hybrid while you still can.
 

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