The trial has been ongoing since the first car was delivered in May of this year. Richard Steinberg of BMW group presented the company’s current progress and learnings from the program. You can view the whole sideshow here.

It was noted that 1800 applications were received and from that group 250 cars were placed in Southern California, and 200 in New York and New Jersey.

Steinberg noted that although public infrastructure is needed to limit range anxiety, this program focused only on consumer home charging infrastructure.  He said this program “placed us in
the infrastructure business.”

It was found that the wallbox installation process was more tedious and time consuming than expected leading to customer frustrations, and that post-installation servicing is a murky area as to who performs it and who pays for it. In the future he reported BMW will focus more on public infrastructure development and pay attention to vehicle to grid and load leveling solutions.

He reported that the purpose of the field trial was to evaluate BEVs in real world conditions and to determine the effect of temperature, weather, and driving behavior on range, reliability and charging status. Also what consumers perceptions of living with an EV was assessed.

It was noted that the MINI E driver community was “borderline evangelical” though there was an “extremely critical vocal minority.” Also noted was that many feedback opportunities evolved including a facebook group and over 30 driver blogs.

In conclusion, the following key leanings have been determined:
1) EV drivers are passionate and look forward to next generation vehicles
2) There is significant need to adopt a common charging port architecture (J1772) and to encourage and develop public charging infrastructure
3) Range anxiety remains a hurdle to be cleared. Options to do so, they say include either developing PHEVs (like the Volt) or expanding public charging infrastructure

Source (BMW) via (Wired)

The Nissan LEAF offers up to 100 miles of electric range and will go on sale in selected US markets late next year.  According to Nissan executives the car will priced so that monthly cost of operation is equivalent to that of a fully-loaded Civic (including fuel). Nissan still hasn’t decided whether to lease the battery separately or sell it with the car.

The LEAF began a four day display in Los Angeles marking its first stop on a national viewing tour that ends in New York City next February.  It is a non-functioning car.  A Nissan Versa outfitted with the LEAF powertrain will be around for VIP and media test drives, public drives will not be permitted.

On the same day the LEAF tour began GM decided to put out a viral video.

This short and simple cartoon attempts to illustrate why EVs are cool, EREV’s are cooler and can be seen below.

If you forget to plug in your EV and it’s the only car you got, not cool.  If you have a Volt it won’t matter.

Of course, forgetting to plug one’s car in may not happen very often but needing to drive continuously beyond its electric range will.

May the best car win.

Two examples that seem particularly important are entries from Mitsubishi and Honda.

Mitsubishi is unveiling what it calls the PX-MiEV. This crossover seems to be a conglomerate of all things; its is a plugin hybrid, a parallel hybrid, a series hybrid, and an EV.

The front and rear wheels are powered by two electric motors that total 60 kw, and there is a 1.6 L gas engine that can both power the front wheels and act as a generator. All of the driving configurations are managed by a power control unit and software called the “MiEV OS.”

EV mode can be automatically switched between front wheel drive or 4 wheel rive depending on road conditions. When the battery is depleted to a certain level, the vehicle transforms into Volt-like series hybrid operation where the generator simply provides energy for the electric motors. However unlike the Volt, when power demands become high, the engine can also turn the wheels supplementing the electric motors as a parallel hybrid configuration.

The EV mode range is 31 miles from a full charge, and the car seats 4.

Mitsubishi claims the vehicle will achieve about 117 MPG overall.

Also Honda has finally taken its first baby step into the electric car arena and is unveiling its pure BEV concept called the EV-N. This is a retro styled 4 seat mini car that Honda says is purely a design study and that there are no plans for production.

They are also revealing the CR-Z sports hybrid which is similar to the Insight in mild hybrid engineering only does 0 to 60 in 9 seconds instead of the Insight’s 11 seconds. It will go into production in 2010.

Carlos Tavares is Nissan’s chairman for the Americas. He revealed that Nissan plans on taking pre-orders for the vehilce beginning in Spring 2010. Presumably pricing will be set as that time as well.

Taveres said “we are confident we will have 20,000 reservations for the Leaf by the time it goes on sale.”

Nissan has already announced it will be launching  the car in five markets in the US and plans to sell 1000 cars in each to start.  Driving behavior and the role of charging infrastructure in each of these regions will be studied in a $99 million DOE-funded study with infrastructure partner eTec.

Initial LEAFs will be built in and imported from Japan, but Nissan has announced it eventually plans to build the car in Smyrna Tennessee at a plant that they also received a $2 billion DOE loan to re-tool.  By 2012 they expect to be able to produce 150,000 cars and 200,000 batteries per year there.

After nearly three years since it was first unveiled, GM has not agreed to the idea of taking pre-orders, and are only reportedly planning to build around 10,000 Volts in the 2011 calender year.  They have also not yet officially announced any definite launch locations.

As we know the GM-Volt.com list shows more than 50,000 people want to buy a VOlt, and even GM vice chairman Bob Lutz cited this strong demand.

Why are there such significant differences between the two company’s plans?  Will this announcement lead GM to shift strategy?

Source (Automotive News, sub reqd.)

To rectify this situation, on Thursday GM India announced that it had formed a partnership with electric car maker Reva to produce a small affordable electric car for the Indian market.

Although not a household name, the Reva Electric Car Company (based out of Bangalore, and operating in more than 20 countries) can lay claim to currently being the largest purveyor of electric cars worldwide with production hovering around 3,000 cars. Later this year, Reva expects a much larger second production facility to come online, increasing their capacity to over 35,000 units per year.

Reva will develop and produce the electric drivetrain and control systems to be put to use on GM’s Gamma II small car platform, which is the foundation for the Chevrolet Spark.

According to Karl Slym, GM India’s President, the two companies have been working together for over 10 months, and have already completed functional prototypes.

GM’s goal is to gear up commercial production over the next 12 months, and to roll out the all electric Chevy Spark in India in late 2010, about the same time as the Volt debuts in North America. No details on the specifications or the price of the vehicle have been released.

When GM-Volt asked Rob Peterson (GM spokesperson) about the possibility of seeing this project come to the United States, he responded that it was “strictly limited to India at this point.”

Source (GM)

This extremely blissful absence of gasoline exploding violently in steel chambers is a fringe benefit of EVs.  I can say as a daily EV driver it is indeed a pleasure.

There has long been consideration though to give EVs artificial sounds, primarily for the purpose of notifying the visual impaired, elderly, and children that a car is approaching.  An increase in pedestrian accidents coming from EV mass adoption is the concern.

GM has given this issue some thought too and as per Volt executive Frank Weber,  the Volt will be equipped with a pedestrian alert that is driver-activated.  It will emit pleasant warning sound when a lever is pulled.

Nissan, however, appears to be taking a different path.

According to a report, Nissan sound engineer Toshiyuki Tabata who used to work on making gas-powered cars quieter, is now working on sound effects for his company’s upcoming pure electric 100 mile range LEAF.

“We fought for so long to get rid of that noisy engine sound,” said Tabata, “With electric cars, we took a completely different approach and listened to composers talk music theory.”

Apparently the sound Tabata came up with is “beautiful and futuristic,” and resulted from consultations with Japanese composers of film scores.

The resulting sound is reminiscent of the flying cars known as ‘Spinners’ found in the 1982 film Blade Runner, it is a high-pitched metallic whir.

Nissan presented the sound to the NHTSA on September 3rd, and although no federal guidelines yet exist, the automaker may equip the LEAF with the sound when it launches in the US at the end of next year.

The sound would start as soon as the car is turned on and would go off above 12 MPH.

“We don’t want to destroy the brand of the electric car,” said Tabata. “We want to have something that will enhance its image.”

Source (Bloomberg)

You can make out the sound of a Spinner in the video clip below:

This year’s Frankfurt Auto Show in Germany has brought with it several new electric car concepts that demonstrate the range of expression cars that do not run on gas can display.

Audi

At one end of the extreme we have the Audi e-tron.  This is a 2-seat performance car based on the current gas-powered R8.  It uses 4 electric motors, one at each wheel which together develop 313 horsepower and a fearsome 3319 foot-pounds of torque ( compare that to the Volt’s 295 ft-lb).  This configuration allows the car to go from 0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds but also from 37 to 75 mph in 4.1 seconds.

The car has a 52 kwh lithium-ion battery pack of which 42.4 kwh is useable, that will deliver 154 miles of range.  At 230 V, charge time is from 6 to 8 hours.

Audi noted the value of the supercar’s mind boggling torque:

The e-tron is able to freely distribute the powerful torque of its four electric motors to the wheels as required. This so-called torque vectoring allows for dazzling dynamics and an undreamed-of level of agility and precision when cornering.

Audi also makes it clear they do not believe electric cars are ready for prime-time. announcing “there is still a lot of work to do before electric cars are ready for volume production.”

Though the Volt debuted as a show car concept shell without inner workings, apparently this car is the real deal.  According to Audi President Johan de Nysschen, “the show car itself is a running prototype.”

How would you like to test drive that?

At the other end we have two odd little birds that are paired with more mainstream big brothers.

Volkswagen

The Volkswagen L1, as its name implies, is a one-liter hybrid car that uses a 0.8 L 2 cylinder diesel engine mated to a 10 kw electric motor and a lithium ion battery that is not grid-chargeable. It delivers 40 hp and 0 to 60 time is 14.3 seconds.  Torque here is 100 nm.

Of course this concept isn’t new, VW’s first iteration was shown in 2002.  The main goal of the car is extreme fuel economy, and according to Volkswagen, that will be 170 MPG.

Volkswagen also displayed its mainstream upcoming BEV called the E-Up!, that they are calling “the Beetle of the 21st Century”

The E-Up! will not arrive into production until 2013 and then is only intended for use in city environments. Volkswagen thinks vehicular electrification wont fully take hold until 2020.

The car has 3+1 seating and is powered by a 60 kw motor that propels it from 0 to 60 in 11.3 seconds.  The 18 kwh total lithium-ion battery will allow 100 miles of range fully charged, with charging taking up to 5 hours on 230V.

The car also gets a 1.4 square meter solar panel on the roof that will supply electricity to the drivetrain while in operation or turn a cooling fan when parked in the sunlight.

Renault

Finally Renault introduced four new electric car concepts.

One of them is the rather bizarre Twizy ZE which is similar to an enclosed motorcycle with four oddly-shaped wheels that appear square.  It has a 15 kw motor with a top speed of 47 mph and the two occupants sit in tandem. It is said to have the performance characteristics of a 125cc motorbike.

Renault also unveiled the Fluence sedan which will be the electric car that will be used in Israel for Better Place battery swapping.  It is a stylish and reasonable sedan that has a 95 hp (70 kw) motor and a 99 mile range.  Though it can be charged in 5 hours at 230 V, it has the option of a 3-minute “Quickdrop” at a Better Place station.

No matter what your preference, it is clear that electricity is taking the automotive market by storm.  Concepts are taking very wide artistic liberties now as a automakers explore the boundaries of pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles.

There is no stopping it now, gasoline is dying a slow death.

It is a stylish little car that powered with either a 1.0 or 1.2 L engine will be able to deliver a combined fuel economy of about 50 MPG.

There are now reports that REVA, an Indian electric car company, may actually be teaming up with GM to produce an all-electric version of the Spark. The car would be produced for the Indian and other selected markets.

If true, this would represent GM’s first joint venture since emerging from bankruptcy, with terms of a 50:50 partnership. A final decision supposedly awaits approval from Detroit.

GM sources would not either confirm nor deny this report though claim it to be speculative.

Using REVA to supply the drivetrain would allow significant cost savings permitting GM to sell the pure electrics at a low price point.

It is not clear from the article whether the pure electric Sparks would ever find their way to the US, though GM has already stated it intends to launch the gas-powered Spark in the US market in 2011.

Of course with a name like Spark, its fuel source could go either way.

Currently pre-production Sparks are already in the hands of GM employees who are driving them around Detroit.  One person with this experience told a group of reporters it was a really fun, capable and comfortable little car with motorcycle-like interior cues.

Source (Economic Times)

Hyundai Motors of Korea has unveiled its new EV called the i10 ahead of its being shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show later this month. The company has apparently been working on the vehicle “for months.”

The i10 is another example of an electric urban or city vehicle, and is a diminutive 5-door 5-seat hatchback.

It has a 49 kw (66 hp) electric motor powered by a 16 kwh lithium-ion battery. The battery cells are provided by LG Chem. Driving range is 99 miles and top speed is 81 mph. 0 to 60 time is a rather leisurely 15 seconds.

The battery has an intrinsic liquid thermal management system, and the car will offer an 85% 15-minute quick charge option at 413 V.

Hyundai will begin low volume fleet leasing of the vehicle in Korea starting in 2010 and will go into full global production in 2012.

At this point, the battery for the vehicle remains prohibitively expensive, forcing Hyundai to offer these vehicles as lease-only for the foreseeable future. In fact, the price of the pack is greater than the cost of an entire conventional gas-powered i10.

It is being reported that the 16 kwh battery pack costs 10,000 euro (£8730) which translates to $14,260 ($890/kwh). This should give us a good idea of the Volt’s battery cost since it is the same size, uses the same supplier’s cells, and also has an intrinsic temperature management system.

It also illustrates how much range can be squeezed out of a pack this size in a lightweight pure EV. Energy consumption would allow 7.8 miles per kwh assuming a conventional 80% charge window in the pack. The Volt will achieve 5 miles per kwh.

This car also marks a departure from Hyundai’s previous plans to move to hydrogen fuel cells as their next step.

“We were going to do hybrid cars as a bridge before hydrogen technology really took off,” said an unnamed Hyundai source. “But we recognize there is a future now in electric technology.”

Source (Autocar)

The car is a 2 seat prototype, or electric powertrain-converted standard MINI Cooper. It has a 35 kwh lithium-ion battery pack (28 kwh usable), 205 hp motor, a 100 mile range, top speed in excess of 100 mph, and 8.5 second 0 to 60 time.

When I last wrote here about it I was still waiting for installation of a 240 V home charger and was getting by on a 120 V portable unit which took about 33 hours to charge the car.

I now have the 240 V, 32 amp wall charger in my garage and the UL certified proprietary charging coupler cord (see above).

Having this unit has made a tremendous difference for me. When I arrive home at about 25% state of charge, it only takes about 2-1/2 hours to recharge. I still charge at work on the 120 V unit anyway.

The car continues to perform well. It is fast, crisp and quiet. There are minor fan noises and an occasional odd smell when first turned on, but it is a very capable car, jumps briskly when called upon and handles quite well.  Interior creature comforts are a bit spartan.

I can say I very much enjoy doing most of my daily driving without the use of gasoline. It does get weird sometimes. Still when I pass my usual gas stations I am compelled to think about pulling in to refill, but smile from ear to ear when I realize I don’t have to. Its kind of like waking up from a bad dream.

In practice, I have found with my usual high speed air-conditioned and almost all highway driving style, effective range is from 75 to 85 miles, not quite the 100 that is claimed. There is little doubt though that with lower speed conservative driving 100 miles of range is doable, and indeed there are reports of some MINI E drivers getting more than 100 miles.

I took the car on a 12 mile course that I use to test hybrids with hypermiling techniques. On that course I’ve achieved 82 MPG with the 3rd generation Prius, 62 MPG with the 2010 Honda Insight, and 57 MPG with the 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid. With the MINI E, using those same methods, the projected effective range based on my energy use over that distance was an unimpressive 92 miles.

An important observation about range though is that I suspect people will never fully utilize it, even if it was 100 miles. This is because there is clearly a psychological concern about needing some kind of safety buffer for returning home which seems to be at least 10 miles for me. No one wants to get caught out with a dead battery.

In fact, I think this factor will be a significant limit for BEVs in general and something that the Volt will not have. There will never be a worry about squeezing out those last couple of EV miles in the Volt because if you misjudge, the gas engine will just go on.

The MINI E has two annoying quirks. One is a built-in 1 or 2 second delay or lag that occurs when one first steps hard on the accelerator from a stop. The other, which is downright dangerous, is that the car will pop into neutral with a loud bang if the accelerator is suddenly floored while at cruising or highway speed.

I have come to believe that these flaws were purposely built in. They are in effect punishment to the driver who tries to punish the battery. The initial lag is common and even GM put it into the Volt mules that were test driven. It is to prevent screeching the wheels with torque by the overzealous driver (journalist).

BMW has not admitted they cooked-in the neutral pop, but haven’t responded to my emails about it. There are multiple reports about it by other MINI E drivers. After a few experiences with it, due to simple negative reinforcement-type Pavlovian conditioning I (the driver) never floor it anymore. This was the result I think BMW wanted as it is less abusive to the battery.

Production cars will not have such harsh tactics.

A major problem with the pure EV is the 100 mile limit.  I am able to use the car for essentially all of my daily 56 mile commutes.  It becomes a 3500 pound garage ornament, however, when I need to take longer trips.  At least once a month or more I have to go to an airport, a distant concert, beach trip, or some event that goes beyond 100 miles.  People often say, just rent a car for those occasions, but let’s face it, that is extremely inconvenient especially after one has paid a significant amount of money for their car.  This is another area I believe the Volt will strongly outmarket the pure EV competition.

In the end, the MINI E is a rough-around-the-edges but highly capable fun car.  Driving electrically is thrilling and very rewarding.  Being able to charge quickly is important.  Pure EV limitations are significant.

[UPDATE: Some commentators claim the neutral-pop is not found in all mules.  I just received the following email response from BMW spokesperson Nathalie Bauters: In speaking with our engineering team, we would like the opportunity to investigate the problem you have experienced with your MINI E. Would it be possible for you to bring in your car so that we can inspect it? ]