Converting gas-powered cars to electric

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Larry Horsley loves that he doesn't buy much gas, even though he drives his '95 Chevy S-10 back and forth to work each day.

Horsley, a self-described do-it-yourselfer, simply plugs his truck into an electric wall outlet in his Douglasville, Georgia, garage and charges it overnight, instead of buying gasoline refined from mostly imported oil.

"If I can keep a dollar from going overseas, I'll spend two dollars," he said. The whole conversion, including the truck, cost him about $12,000, which parts dealers say is about standard.

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From gas-powered to electric auto in 36 hours flat

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. A 1978 Triumph Spitfire convertible is doing a little sunbathing on the Santa Monica pier on a late Friday morning, the kind of day real estate boosters call "sun-splashed."

But this is not a story about a car. It's about a man called "Gadget," aka Greg Abbott, though no one ever uses his name. Gadget owns this Spitfire, one of some 50 vehicles parked on the pier and the only one that runs purely on gas.
The vehicles are about to line up for a parade that will mark the start of the first Alternative Car and Transportation Expo held in Los Angeles.
It's 10:45 a.m. - indulge me in the recurring time motif because there is, indeed, a loudly ticking clock in this story. Starting at 9 a.m. on the following day, Gadget will have 36 hours to get a difficult job done: convert the Spitfire from its original combustion engine to a fully electric car.

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Electric car owners won't pay higher insurance, ICBC.

> Electric car owners in Vancouver won't pay more for insurance than those with conventional vehicles, at least for now, according to the Insurance Corp. of B.C. Vancouver city council decided this week to permit low-speed electric vehicles on streets with speed limits of 50 km/h or less, becoming the first major city in Canada to do so, following the lead of Oak Bay.

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>Electric cars legalized in Vancouver

Toshiba demo's notebook PC with SCiB.

MAKHARI, Japan - Toshiba Corp. showed off at Ceatac Japan here a new notebook computer and an electric bicycle, both featuring its Super Charge ion battery called SCiB. Toshiba claims that its new SCiB-equipped notebook PC is capable of recharging up to 90 percent of full capacity in 10 minutes.

The recharge speed of the new SCiB module demonstrated here appears to be six times faster than that of the original SCiB battery technology.

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> Toshiba Delivers SCiBTM, a Safe, Long-life, Rapid Charge Battery to Cannondale Sports Group

Battery monitoring IC targets hybrid/electric vehicles

Milpitas, Calif. - Linear Technology has introduced a highly integrated multi-cell battery monitoring IC, the LTC6802, capable of measuring up to 12 individual lithium-ion battery cells.
The LTC6802 enables quick and accurate measurements of all cell voltages in a stack, even in the presence of stack voltages over 1000 V, said Linear.

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>LTC6802-1 - Multicell Battery Stack Monitor

Chevy's Volt: First in a Family of Vehicles.

"If there's some good news out there lately it's GM's formal introduction of its Chevrolet Volt. The Volt, GM says, is the beginning of a new class of vehicle."

That’s a good way to put it. The Volt isn't just a new model or a new brand of hybrid electric car, it's a technological platform that will be used to build a whole new range of vehicles.

GM has a name for the platform - E-Flex - and they’re already talking about other cars. Smaller models, larger ones and spreading the platform to other divisions are possibilities GM says.

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>Volt-Site

New Insight from Honda; New Insights from Bosch

"Honda's Insight was the first hybrid sold in America: Many of the diminutive, aerodynamic and highly fuel efficient 2-seat coupes are still on the road. The car introduced in 1999 is now out of production.

Now Honda has brought the name back. Though Honda calls the new Insight a concept vehicle, it's really the new production hybrid that will be in US showrooms by the spring of 2009. "

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