Detroit 2008 2nd Day

Team Physics Lab of Lake Havasu Interview. Apparently they intend to convert a Chevy Blazer (!) into an electric vehicle, and then retrofit the beast with solar panels, a solar thermal system, and little wind turbines. The X Prize foundation has stated that energy generated onboard (like with solar panels mounted on the vehicle) will be considered "free", i.e. it won't be included in mileage calculations, so their scheme does have some hope. But I've run calculations on solar energy and let me tell you, compared to the requirements for a vehicle like the Chevy Blazer, they have their work cut out for them (my calculations show that even on a sunny day you can only get about five miles of energy from the sun - useful, but that's not going to get you to 100 MPGe...). And wind turbines on the front grill? Wings to create lift? Apparently even though it's a physics lab, they are not very familiar with the laws of physics! (You will always loose more in drag than you gain in energy - otherwise you could create a perpetual motion machine!) Their webpage doesn't have much on it yet, but you can see a photo of the three man team.

Bayer Unit Joins X-Prize Competitor Velozzi. Apparently Bayer MaterialScience LLC makes high=preformance plastics and polymers, and they now have an agreement with Velozzi to help them design and manufacture lightweight car components (they mention "load floors and roof modules"). Combined with their announcement yesterday of a vehicle manufacturing partnership with International Development Corp of South Africa, Velozzi really looks to be getting their ducks in a row!

Autoweek Exclusive Interview with Don Foley, the Executive Director of the Automotive X Prize. He basically explains the Automotive X Prize, and they talk about the participation (or lack thereof) from the major automotive manufacturers.

There are two widely spread stories which must have gone out on a news wire: Win 10 million dollars by designing a 100 miles per gallon commercial car and Automotive X PRIZE contenders shown at Detroit Auto Show. The first gives an interesting detail - Discovery News claims that five venues (stages) will be selected for the preliminary (qualification?) runs, and another five for the finals in 2010. This may include only the city stages - from the RFP - but it's more info than we've ever had before about what the races may involve!

The EcoGeek has a post up about the Rise of the REEV, the range-extended electric vehicle. Many of the AXP teams are making REEVs, and it seems the major auto manufacturers are hoping on the bandwagon as well. I believe that the REEV concept provides the idea transition between our current oil transportation infrastructure and our eventual electricity transportation infrastructure. And although currently it will not do much to reduce emissions or pollution, there are many clear paths for transforming the electricity grid to a sustainable, clean status: solar thermal, solar PV, wind, geothermal, etc. Another REEV was announced yesterday at the Detroit 2008 show: BYD F6-DM, a Chinese car which actually has both REEV and parallel hybrid (they call it "dual mode") technology.