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Archive for December, 2009

Chrysler Electric Vehicles

December 20th, 2009

Some people don’t realize that it was Chrysler that introduced the very first modern electric vehicle to market in the United States. It was produced in 1992 and called the Chrysler TEVan. There were very few made and were very expensive. They had extremely high battery and component costs and the price range was around $100,000. So needless to say; they did not sell very well.

Chrysler was seriously involved in designing high technology for electric cars and test marketing an electric minivan. However, the merger with Daimler all but stopped the efforts Chrysler was making in the electric drive development. Chrysler did make an electric concept van in 1992 the Electric Power Inter-Urban Commuter or EPIC for short. The EPIC concept had nickel iron batteries.

Chrysler was also trying to create a viable 4door mid size electric vehicle through a program they called Destiny. It used light weight materials and an AC induction motor. It turned out not to be a viable option so they tried other approaches.

Since the mid 1990’s Chrysler has sold more than 35,000 low speed GEM neighborhood electric vehicles worldwide. The GEM is not a full function vehicle and is suited for specific uses. Its top speed is 25mph and allowed only on streets with speed limits of 35mph or less.

Now that Chrysler is no longer part of DaimlerChrysler they have renewed their efforts to develop and market electric cars. They recently unveiled three electric drive concept vehicles. They include an all electric Dodge sports car and a range extended electric version of the Jeep Wrangler and Chrysler Town & Country minivan. All of these vehicles use lithium-ion batteries. Chrysler has said that they will move beyond the concept stage and will market one of these vehicles in 2

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Tags: chrysler daimlerchrysler Electric Cars

Interesting Facts about Ethanol

December 14th, 2009

Ethanol also known as ethyl alcohol is being produced in the United States from corn. It is the same grain alcohol used in making whiskey and moonshine. Pure ethanol burns with a colorless flame and could be a safety hazard. E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline and is sold as a fuel. E85 is starting to be available in more filling stations across the nation.

E85 is considered an alternative fuel and Gasohol or E10 is not considered an alternative fuel. This is because Gasohol only has 10% Ethanol and 90% gasoline. Ethanol can be produced from domestic feedstock and does not have to be imported like petroleum. If Ethanol was used by millions of vehicles it could make a dramatic impact on the United States dependence on imported oil. Another benefit is that it is a renewable biofuel that has modest reductions of harmful emissions.

A FFV is a flexible fuel vehicle which automakers developed so a vehicle can be run on E85, gasoline or a combination of the two. The reason for this is because there is a limited availability of E85 at gas stations. The FFV’s first came out in the 1990’s, however most of these models have never had E85 in their fuel tanks. This is because even though the number of E85 filling stations is increasing there are still very few places where you can get this alternative fuel.

Usually you will not notice any difference when you are operating a vehicle on E85 instead of gasoline. Ethanol produces less energy than gasoline but has a higher octane rating. Currently, E85 is more expensive than gasoline because of the added expense of blending it with gasoline. These are just a few facts you should know if you are considering using E85 as an alternative fuel.