EVLN(rapid charged Electric SUVs)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
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--- {EVangel}
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2002/08/12/story8.html
>From the August 9, 2002 print edition
Charging systems are the next roadblock for electric vehicles
Ben DiPietro Pacific Business News
Todd Martin is playing with his electric-powered
sport-utility vehicle, which means he's playing with his
computer.
Martin, general manager of the Hawaii office of Enova
Systems, uses the laptop to take readings from his Hyundai
Santa Fe electric vehicle, now halfway through two years of
testing in Hawaii. Enova produces the SUV's drive system.
While the fleet of 15 Santa Fes involved in the testing are
running well, with no serious problems reported by the
people driving them, challenges remain in improving
battery-charging systems that could determine whether
Hyundai decides to proceed with commercial production of the
vehicles.
Korea-based Hyundai Motor Corp. and California-based Enova
teamed with Hickam Air Force Base, the City and County of
Honolulu, Hawaiian Electric Co. and the Hawaii Electric
Vehicle Demonstration Project to test the vehicles, which
can be charged with rapid chargers that "fill up" the
vehicle in an hour. They also can be charged through
240-volt outlets that take several hours to fully charge a
car, which can then travel between 70 and 90 miles.
The vehicles have traversed about 75,000 miles since the
pilot project started last summer, said Alfred Gloddeck,
senior manager of corporate affairs for Hyundai America
Technical Center in Chino, Calif.
Charging to a solution
Project officials expected more progress on the rapid
chargers by this time and asked Hyundai to extend the
testing period, said Tom Quinn, director of the Hawaii
Electric Vehicle Demonstration Project.
"I insisted with Hyundai that they make these vehicles
rapidly chargeable, but that was an entirely new proposition
for them," he said. "They hadn't done it before. For their
battery manufacturer, Panasonic, it was relatively new to
them too. That part of the program has been moving slower
than we had originally anticipated. We would like to
continue the program, but it's their call."
Hyundai provides all 15 test vehicles and money to maintain
them, Quinn said.
One reason for the delays in battery testing is caution,
Martin said. While the chargers can put out up to 60
kilowatts of power, the testers are using only 20
kilowatts.
"These Panasonic batteries, while very advanced, Hyundai and
Enova are concerned about treating them properly," he said.
"We don't want to do it wrong at the beginning and damage
the battery packs."
The battery temperatures need to be controlled below certain
levels, and going above 20 kilowatts at this time causes
problems for the temperature thresholds, he said.
Electric advantages
>From a performance standpoint, each of the people driving
the three vehicles using rapid chargers say the SUVs perform
as well as or better than regular SUVs and cars, although
they take some getting used to.
"They are better, especially the electric power steering,,"
said Frank Vargo, planning engineer for Hawaiian Electric.
"They are easy to operate and stop, but don't seem to be too
loose at high speeds. With a normal gas car, you either get
one or the other. It's either hard to turn or, if they turn
easy, they wander all over the road."
Another positive is electric vehicles don't need oil changes
or tune-ups. "They're virtually maintenance-free," Quinn
said.
Since there is a limited range to how far the electric SUVs
can go on a charge, former city official Ross Sasamura says
it's important to know how far you are from one of the 13
rapid-charging stations on Oahu.
"You have to have an awareness of your ability to pick up a
charge," he said. "It's not the same as a gas vehicle where
you just go to a gas station."
Although Sasamura left his job as director of the city's
Department of Facility Maintenance last month to become vice
president of sales for HT&T Truck Center, he still
test-drives one of the electric-powered SUVs.
"My office was out in Kapolei and I routinely would go back
and forth between Kapolei and town," he said.
One thing that takes getting used to is that electric
vehicles are slower to get moving from a complete stop,
Vargo said.
"There is no slippage like a normal car with an automatic
transmission," he said."
While the vehicles given to the city and Hawaiian Electric
have been driven about 1,000 miles a month on average, the
electric SUVs given to Hickam have been driven only about
half that much. One reason: Pentagon rules prevent military
personnel from using the vehicles for personal purposes,
which prohibits them from driving the SUVs home each night,
Quinn said.
"We've asked them to find other ways of doing things, like
using them for taxi service on base and driving them
constantly throughout the day," he said.
[...]
Reach Ben DiPietro at 955-8039 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Copyright 2002 American City Business Journals Inc.
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