The all-electric car gets closer
For some time, in the technical mags like ASEAN Autobiz, I
have been proposing that the all-electric car is getting
closer. This would be a ‘plug-in’ where you just plug it
into the mains grid to recharge overnight. The only problem
stopping the universal adoption of this concept has been the
batteries.
150
mpg SUV
Now remember when mobile phones first became available. The
damn thing fitted into a suitcase, and you had to be Don
Athaldo to be strong enough to carry it. Now the whole
shooting match fits into your shirt pocket. Batteries are
getting better and smaller.
However, to store enough energy to propel a car has been the
stumbling block, but that could be a thing of the past.
Ultra-capacitor energy storage systems could be the answer.
AFS Trinity has announced the real world performance specs
of its plug-in Extreme Hybrid (XH) technology. In just
completed road tests, a 2007 Saturn VUE Green Line SUV
fitted with an XH drive train, exceeded 150 mpg (yes, that’s
no misprint), and improved the zero to 100 kays time from
12.5 seconds, to 11.6 second running in electric-only mode -
something it can do for 64 km at a stretch. The punchline is
that in hybrid mode (petrol and electric), it runs 0-100
km/h in 6.9 seconds, which is faster than a Porsche Cayenne!
In addition, based on driving 550 km a week, the company’s
consumer payback analysis suggests the technology will pay
for itself in less than four years - to make it the first
economically viable, commercially-available hybrid auto
technology. Up till now, you could never make enough savings
to make a hybrid commercially viable. There were not enough
savings, even with 60 mpg vehicles like Prius.
“Extreme Hybrids don’t need high priced technology and don’t
require new or expensive fuels, such as hydrogen, which,
according to Argonne National Labs, will cost twice as much
as gasoline at the pump and require installation of an
infrastructure costing half a trillion dollars.” “The
Extreme Hybrid is not a concept,” said AFS Trinity CEO
Edward W. Furia, “but a practical alternative that relies on
cheap electricity from America’s vast existing energy
infrastructure - the electric power grid.”
“Keep in mind that these results were not in a small
two-seater, but in a medium-size family SUV designed to
support a serious supermarket run or a family’s weekend
recreational activities,” Furia said. According to Furia,
the next step for AFS Trinity is to license its breakthrough
technology to carmakers who want to incorporate the XH drive
train into their vehicles. “That would be our preference,”
said Furia. “The SUVs that we just completed that were
outfitted with the XH drive train could have been any SUV
made by anyone. The XH is a new generation of plug-in hybrid
drive train ready to multiply the gas mileage of any SUV or
any standard sedan.”
Extreme Hybrid technology in commercial production is
expected to cost around $8,700 more than current,
petrol-only SUV’s. The technology that made these results
possible came from the former space and atomic energy
scientists at AFS Trinity’s Livermore, California,
laboratory with integration of the technology into the
American SUVs made possible by respected global automotive
engineering leader, Ricardo. “This has been a collaboration
of rocket scientists and car guys,” Furia said. “They have
taken the best from aerospace and computer science as well
as automotive engineering to produce in a very short time
frame and largely with off-the-shelf components a working
vehicle prototype in which the XH plug-in hybrid drive train
has been demonstrated in a family-size SUV.
“The XH-150 does not require exotic or controversial fuels,
it works within the present energy infrastructure, and
components are available off-the-shelf at reasonable prices
- prices that will only drop lower as volume demand
increases. Just as important, XH production vehicles are
capable of being built now at prices many people can afford.
“At the heart of this new Fast Energy technology are patent
pending control electronics to cache power for short periods
in ultra-capacitors and provide this power in bursts for
all-electric acceleration that is better, in many cases,
than the internal combustion engine of the host vehicle,”
Furia said.
I firmly believe this will be the way of the future. Those
people who think that hydrogen is the answer will have to
work out how to get hydrogen to the mass market, and who is
going to pay for the reticulation system. With plug-ins, the
refueling system is as far away as the power point on the
wall!
Anyone for a brand new
Jaguar XK 120 C type?
When the XK 120 C type was new in 1951 it cost
US$6000, twice the price of an XK120 road variant. A
genuine, healthy C-Type will now set you back more than a
million, and the 1953 Le Mans winner would be valued in
excess of US$4 million.
Replicas have been available from a variety of sources but
few come with the heritage of Proteus which has been
producing all aluminum bodied sports cars for two decades.
Under new management, the company is looking for
international distribution for its thoroughly authentic
US$133,000 replica.
Jaguar
XK 120 C - replica
The big news story in the world of specialist car production
in the UK for 2007 was the takeover of Proteus Cars by rival
sports car manufacturer Enduro Cars. With a complete
management team changeover and location, the company is now
producing the XK 120 C and planning production of a host of
dream cars including a Light Weight E-Type, the C-Type
Coupe, and a variety of period racing machinery such as the
ERA Voiturette and some as-yet-unnamed early F1 cars.
The company only builds fully finished aluminum cars
carrying 60,000/5 year warranties and the current production
is approximately 150 cars a year but output is being ramped
up to meet the demands of the worldwide dealer network it is
actively putting in place.
For those who need reminding, the Jaguar C-type (officially
designated the Jaguar XK120-C) was a racing car built by
Jaguar and sold from 1951 to 1953. With an aerodynamic body
designed by Malcolm Sayer and a lightweight, multi-tubular,
triangulated frame designed by Bob Knight, a total of 52
were built. (No wonder there is a thriving market amongst
enthusiasts world wide for replicas of exceptional quality.)
Mechanically, the C Type used the running gear of the
contemporary XK120 sports car (the C stands for
‘competition’). The twin-cam, six cylinder engine was tuned
to around 153 kW rather than the 134 kW of the road car. The
custom, tubular chassis and aluminum body-panels, along with
the elimination of creature comforts, helped the car to shed
nearly 454 kg compared to a comparable Jaguar road car. The
later C-Types were more powerful, using triple twin-choke
Weber carburettors and high-lift camshafts. They were also
lighter and better braked, by means of all-round disc
brakes.
The Jaguar C-Type won the Le Mans 24 hours race at its first
attempt in 1951, driven by Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead
and in so doing, became the first car to win a major race
using disc brakes.
In 1952 Jaguar, worried by reports of the speed of the
Mercedes-Benz 300SL , modified the aerodynamics to increase
the top speed. However, this necessitated a rearrangement of
the car’s cooling system, and subsequently all three entries
retired due to overheating. In 1953, the car won again, in a
lightened, more powerful configuration, driven by Duncan
Hamilton and Tony Rolt. This victory marked the first time
the race had been won at an average of over 100 mph (105.85
mph - 170.34 km/h, to be precise).
Proteus is actively seeking expressions of interest from
international distributors, and has plans to extend the
range to include SS100, XKSS, and D-Type Jaguars, Aston
Martin DB3S and the glorious Mercedes Benz 300SLR.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked what was the first air-cooled
racing engine, which had a large fan to force air across the
cylinders? Hint: do not jump to the first conclusion! So it
was not a Porsche, but was in fact a 1906 Frayer-Miller.
There’s nothing new under the sun!
So to this week. Let’s have a rally question. Which team was
disqualified from the Monte Carlo Rally for having a
non-standard headlamp dipping system? This was after they
had won!
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
By the way, a couple of weeks back I asked about the
first race on pneumatic tyres, and Will Kelsall from Cobra
International commented that this was a cycle race in 1889.
(John Boyd) Dunlop was a Scottish vet living in Belfast; he
invented the pneumatic tyre, and persuaded cycle champion
Willy Hume to use them in a race on the Queen’s College
playing fields on 18 May 1889. He duly won the race and the
tyres became de rigeur for all cycling. When they hit the
motor race circuits I don’t know.
Apparently (according to the BBC) another Scot, Robert
Thompson had patented almost the same thing in 1845. This
was not so popular due to the fact that there were no
bicycles then ... it was used to make horse-drawn vehicles
quieter and easier to pull. It worked OK but was rather
expensive.
Thanks for that Will.
Starved for ‘real’
classics
A friend dropped off the latest Classic and Sports Car
magazine, and immediately I was envious of any enthusiast
living in the UK. The plethora of vehicles available was
just stunning. OK, OK, they are expensive in the main if you
are looking for something like a genuine Ferrari GTO, but
there are still loads of bargains for the impecunious
enthusiast.
In the February 2008 edition you can buy a Caterham 1700
Supersprint, 27,000 miles, 300 miles since a complete
rebuild, and the lot for 12,000 pounds Sterling (that’s
about 875,000 THB). Crying yet?
Or if Sir would like something a little older, there’s a
1925 Lagonda for 7,500 pounds Sterling, or perhaps wanting a
little wind in the hair with an MGB for 2,700 pounds
Sterling (and that is 189,000 THB). If you are a Jaguar fan,
there’s an XJS V12 fixed head coupe, totally restored for -
wait for it - 6,495 pounds Sterling, which is well under
500,000 THB. You can even buy a 1976 Rolls-Royce Silver
Shadow for 8,950 pounds Sterling. I’ll wager you are crying
by now!
1929 Lagonda
