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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Zenn update - ever nearer the end of the rechargeable battery as we know it - The Static Electricity battery

Yawn. 35 mile autonomy, 25 mile per hour governor speed limit. 

Fall 2009 Now we're getting serious, how about a price?
The emission free City Zenn is expected to be a full highway compatible vehicle with the top speed of 80 mph (125kph) and the range of 250 miles (400 kilometres).   It will be powered by EEStor and will charge in less than 5 minutes. This ultracapacitor powered vechile is expected to meet the transportation requirements of a many worldwide drivers.

Ultracapacitors could be the key to making electric and fuel cell vehicles more affordable and efficient, but a lack of funding is standing in the way of their production. EEStor, a company that has made breakthroughs in ultra-cap technology, has acknowledged that they won't meet their goal of producing any this year because they haven't raised enough money.

EnerG2's technology was spun out of the University of Washington. The company's electrode materials could also have applications in natural gas storage, hydrogen storage and photovoltaics.

EnerG2 CEO Rick Luebee told VentureBeat that the company restructured carbon at the nano level to improve electrodes by increasing surface area and making them more porous so ions can flow more easily. The result is electrodes with up to five times the power density, EnerG2 says.

The company is pursuing markets in electric rail systems, industrial applications for heavy-duty vehicles and expects to begin shipping in the second quarter of 2009.




ZENN Electric Car - Mini Test Road Test/Latest News & Reviews/Car Shopping/Hot Lists/Reviews/Car and Driver - Car And Driver
...the ZENN, which stands for Zero Emissions, No Noise. It’s the French Microcar MC-2, sold there with a gasoline or diesel engine. The ZENN is imported without a drivetrain from France to Québec, where the ZENN Motor Company, founded in 2000, installs a 30-hp electric motor and six sealed lead-acid batteries, two up front under the hood and four in the rear beneath the hatchback. At 120.8 inches, the ZENN is 14.7 inches longer than the Smart Fortwo but slightly narrower and not quite as tall.

Even with two aboard, the ZENN reaches 25 mph a hair quicker than it takes Usain Bolt to cover 100 meters and can squeal its skinny P145/70R-13 Klebers (a Michelin brand) from a standing start. The per-charge range is about 35 miles, less if you squeal those Klebers a lot, less still with the optional air conditioning on. “Some owners turn on the air while it’s still plugged in and cool off the vehicle,” says Jason Brownell, “and then you can limit the use of the air.” Brownell sells the ZENN in Florida, which represents 22 percent of the car’s market. Most of them, as you would suspect, go to California....


"To put this in perspective," says Paul Scott, co-founder of Plug In America, "I drive an electric Toyota RAV4 with a 1,000-pound battery that is capable of holding 27 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of power. I could replace my battery with three EESUs, weighing a total of only 300 pounds, that are capable of holding 45 kWhs of power." The additional power and reduced weight would more than double the vehicle's 120-mile range and it would recharge in a matter of minutes off 220 volts, slightly longer when using household 110 volts.The Long Ranger: EEStor's EV Ultra-Capacitor


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