A report on the Plug-In  Electric Vehicles 2008: What Role for Washington? conference in DC.

Vehicles there:

• Tesla roadster that belongs to one of the founders of Tesla (and PayPal and SpaceX), Elon Musk. I sat in the passenger seat and had a friend take a picture. The power inlet is circled by a bright white light when no electric cord is in it. Then it turns to green, as I remember, when a cord is in it. The plug is a 220 one; there is a converter that allows 110 plug in.
• A123-Systems/Hymotion plug-in conversion for the Prius. (I am scheduled for installation of one of these in my 2005 Prius in October.) It uses the nanotube-lithium-ion-iron-phosphate battery. Google.org/recharge also had an earlier-version Prius Hymotion conversion there with the physically larger A123 battery lithium-ion-iron-phosphate battery. From a web page: “A123Systems has also developed a commercial nano Li-Ion battery. A123 Systems claims their battery has the widest temperature range at -30C to 70C. Unlike Toshiba's nanobattery, A123 Li-Ion batteries charge to "high capacity" in five minutes. Safety is a key feature touted by the A123 technology, with a video on their website of a nail drive test, in which a nail is driven through a traditional Li-Ion battery and an A123 Li-Ion battery, where the traditional battery flames up and bubbles at one end, the A123 battery simply emits a wisp of smoke at the penetration site. Thermal conductivity is another selling point for the A123 battery, with the claim that the A123 battery offers 4 times higher thermal conductivity than conventional Lithium-Ion cylindrical cells. The nanotechnology they employ is a patented nanophosphate technology.”
• AC Propulsion’s eBox conversion of a Scion xB to a vehicle-to-grid (V2G) electric vehicle.
• Toyota test plug-in Prius. The OEM Prius NiMH battery is nominally 201.6 volts and has nominal capacity of 6.5 Ah, for a nominal energy capacity of 1.31 kWh. I was told by the Toyota person that both batteries in this test plug-in Prius has two 1.3 kWh batteries. So, it apparently has two stock Prius batteries in it, which gives not much energy for driving around town. Of course, the final plug-in Prius will have lithium-ion-Fe-Phosphate batteries with much more energy in the 2 nd battery than 1.3 kWh.
• A Ford Escape plug-in with a much larger battery replacing the OEM battery. I was not able to get details about it.
• A mock up of a Chevy Volt, which was just a shell. It did not even have a real steering wheel or real seats. Kind of like a cardboard display in a grocery store, except made out of metal and plastic. However, Troy Clarke, president of General Motors North America, in a speech at the plug-in conference, made it absolutely clear that GM is going to produce many plug-in vehicles, starting with the goal of the Chevy Volt (maximum 40 miles range on battery) in 2010.
• MILES small van-like NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle) from China. It also makes a highway-speed electric sedan. (Tom Friedman, NYT columnist, as a panel moderator at the plug-in conference, asked the panel “When will volume production of plug-vehicles be for sale in the United States FROM CHINA?”)
• Bob Bruninga of U.S. Naval Academy home-made Prius plug-in with solar panels on roof and hood. He has a detailed PowerPoint presentation about the Prius and his modification of it. He told me that he killed two Prius batteries by overcharging them; one caught on fire! He found replacement batteries at auto recycle places for $400 to $1000. (I am told that the new price is about $3000. Toyota gives $200 for old batteries for recycling.)
• The ZERO off-road electric motorcycle: It is equivalent to a 250 cc gasoline motorcycle and weighs 145 lbs. It costs $7500! (There are electric scooters/motorcycles for about $2500.)

There were very informative talks and panel discussions. Here are some of the items I jotted down:

• Over 400 people were at the conference, much more than expected. It was very crowded and “electric”.
• There are 40 million electric vehicles in China and the number is increasing very fast.
• China is building a coal-fired power plant about every day.
• From Chelsea Sexton (principal participant in the documentary “Who Killed the Electric Car?”): “Coal is bad; oil is worse!” She is now working on a documentary “Who’s Saving the Electric Car?”
• 2009 is going to be 20 years of progress in one year for electric vehicles.
• Nuclear power cannot be significantly increased until 2020, which is way too late.
• Cantwell (D-WA), Hatch (R-UT) and Obama (D-IL) FREEDOM Act to promote plug-in hybrids. ( Fuel Reduction using Electrons to End Dependence On the Mideast Act!)
• Prius sales went down 23% from April to May because Toyota ran out of inventory.
• In 2007 400,000 hybrids were sold in the U.S., 2.7% of sales. It is much higher so far in 2008.
• Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan will be available as hybrids in 2009. Ford plans to have 20 different hybrids within the next few years.
• The Ford Escape Hybrid is being tested as a plug-in. An E85 version of the plug-in is also in the works.
• NOPEC: No Oil, Purchase Electric Car.
• Several power companies, mainly in California, are working with auto manufacturers about V2G (Vehicle to Grid) and V2H (Vehicle to Home). They want to have software to time charging and discharging according to grid needs, as well as vehicle needs. Cost/kWh to charge at midnight will be several times less than at 4 PM.
• David Taylor of Taylor Automotive in Sanford NC said that auto repair shops are hurting because owners are putting off repairs due to the high cost of gasoline. His company is moving into doing conversion of gasoline vehicles to electric or hybrid vehicles.
• World has 820 million vehicles on the roads at a 12% ownership rate. 96% run on petroleum. By 2020 there will be one billion on the roads at a 15% ownership rate.
• General Motors is now selling 5 hybrids; there will be 8 this year. By 2012 there will be 20 different GM hybrids for sale.
• Toyota manager of the Advanced Technology Group was very tight lipped about Toyota’s plug-in plans for the future.
• 78% of drivers drive 40 miles or less per day in the U.S.
• There are 25 different lithium-ion battery types.
• Chevy Volt (EFlex electric vehicle): 40 miles maximum electric driving range; battery: 10 years lifetime, 150,000 miles; 30 miles/gal gas car costs 13 cents/mile but Volt costs 2 cents/mile for fuel; production funding has been approved for 2010 by the GM Board; production model is more aerodynamic than the recent Volt ads show; a new radio system has been developed to draw much less power for the same performance as current radios.

Dave Roper, June 2008