Monthly Archives: June 2009

Miles Automotive Creates Coda Automotive For highway Speed Electric Vehicle

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Miles Automotive has created a new company, Coda Automotive, for the marketing of their first highway speed all electric vehicle, aptly named Coda. The Chinese manufactured vehicle will have a top speed of 80 mph and a range of 90-120 miles. The four-door sedan will seat five and include amenities like bluetooth and an iPod dock. According to the company’s CEO, Kevin Czinger, a test fleet of 200-300 vehicles will be on the road in June 2010 and vehicles will be available for consumers later in the fall. The vehicles will be priced around $45,000 but that could be reduced to around $35,000 with federal and state tax credits.

The vehicle has been modified from a Mitsubishi designed internal combustion vehicle manufactured for the Chinese market by China-based Hafei and sold under the name Saibao. Coda has partnered with Tianjin Lishen of China to manufacture the vehicle’s lithium ion batteries. Learn more: MSN Autos

US Special Ops Lets The Good Times Roll With The Teryx

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Kawasaki Teryx Joins US Special Ops

Kawasaki Teryx Joins US Special Ops

After extensive research and evaluation the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has ordered 1,625 Kawasaki Teryx recreation utility vehicles to serve as tactical vehicles.  The $28.4 million order was won through a bidding process by Houston based UV Country.  The order will be filled over five years and works out to be about $17,500 per vehicle.

The specific model in the contract is the 2009 Kawasaki Teryx 750 FI 4×4 RUV which features side-by-side seating for two adults, a roll over protective structure (ROPS), front discs and a special sealed rear brake, four wheel independent suspension, a tilting cargo bed with 500 pounds of carrying capacity and the ability to tow up to 1,300 pounds. Learn more:  UTVguide.net

ZAP Completes Made In USA Electric Pickup Engineering Project

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ZAP reports finishing an engineering project to develop an electric pickup truck where most of the parts and components will be made in the United States.  The project is an extension of the company’s efforts to shift vehicle production back to the US. Learn more:   marketwire.com

Going Postal Means Going Electric?

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A draft study by the Postal Regulatory Commission examining vehicle-electrifications has concluded that:

Electrification of the Postal Service delivery vehicle fleet is practical, achievable, and desirable, and should be initiated now.

According to the study electrifying the Postal Service’s delivery vans would save 68 million gallons of fuel annually and cut overall costs per mile from 20-25 cents to 8-12 cents.  The aging Postal fleet includes 142,000 delivery vehicles and with most delivery routes about 17-18 miles long the situation seems ideal for electric vehicles.  However a significant hurdle for the often financially challenged organization is the very high level of capital investment fleet electrification would require – up to $10 billion.  Learn more:  csmonitor.com

Breakthrough In Lithium Ion Battery Technology

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A Canadian research team has reported a high level of performance in their developmental work related to lithium-sulfur based batteries.  According to the researchers:

This composite material can supply up to nearly 80 percent of the theoretical capacity of sulfur, which is three times the energy density of lithium transition metal oxide cathodes, at reasonable rates with good cycling stability

The team used nanocasting to create the cathode material.  Learn more:  renewableenergyworld.com

Smith Electric Vehicles USA Update

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The company is on track to begin production in July and reports a”strong expression of interest from fleet operators” including Frito-Lay and Canteen Vending Services.  The related story also includes a short video with the CEO where he talks about some of the advantages for drivers including less fatigue from constantly having to shift gears, as well as the need for developing a supply chain to support an electric vehicle market in the US.  Learn more:  treehugger.com

Kawasaki Layoffs Finalized

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Kawasaki Motors Manufacturing laid off 320 employees last week following an earlier buyout offer to workers in their consumer products division, which produces their utility vehicles and other products.  Management reported that nearly all the layoffs were the result of voluntary acceptance of the buyout.  As a result, the consumer products workforce at the Lincoln, NE location has been reduced by 25% to approximately 900 workers.

Kawasaki’s consumer products division reported a sales decline of 22% for the fiscal year ending in March.  This is on par with first quarter declines recently reported by Polaris Industries and Arctic Cat.  Learn more:  Journalstar.com

Ruff And Tuff Vehicles Spins Off Wheego Electric Cars

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RTEV has spun off Wheego Electric Cars so both companies can focus on their respective markets.  RTEV will focus on cost cutting and selling deeper into their traditional market of electric powered recreational vehicles in a difficult environment for powersports manufacturers.  Wheego will concentrate on developing the market and distribution for their Wheego Whip LSV product which will go on sale in July of this year.  Management remarked that RTEV will be trying to optimize cash flow while Wheego will be following a more capital intensive strategy to take advantage of what they see as a high growth potential market.  Learn more  prnewswire.com