http://www.tribtown.com/view/story/5036fa83716b420886fabeb3f15c6fee/NV--Electric-Cars-Competitors Race is on to make the best electric car in the valley By DANIEL ROTHBERG, Las Vegas Sun July 24, 2015
LAS VEGAS — Long before Tesla announced plans to build a $5 billion electric battery factory near Reno, a local group for years had been tracking the quiet rev of the electric car industry in and around the valley. On the website of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association is a poster for Lectra Motors, a Las Vegas-based company that in 1981 tried to convert a fleet of Datsuns into all-electric vehicles. The poster features six Datsuns beneath a golden desert sunrise. "The dawn of a new era," its tagline reads. "It lasted for all of about three months before the principal investor pulled his money out and went home," said Lloyd Wayne Reece, president of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association. Three decades later, electric vehicle sales, though growing, still represent a small fraction of total car sales in the United States. The new era Lectra Motors promised has not dawned. But in fits and starts, tinkerers, dreamers and entrepreneurs in the valley have retrofitted, manufactured and assembled electric batteries for the road, the skies, the military and medicine. These are a few of the valley's power players in the electric car business. LOCAL MOTORS Phoenix-based Local Motors, which has a hub downtown, is pursuing an alternate manufacturing approach. The company offers a 3-D-printed car, the Strati, which features an electric engine that can take it 62 miles on one charge. It takes 44 hours to print the car, Local Motors officials say, and the company plans to reduce production time to 24 hours. The goal is to have the car cleared for the road by 2016. The downtown Las Vegas microfactory employs two full-time staffers and additional employees during peak seasons. The location, which includes a retail space, soon will house a large-scale 3-D printer. "Las Vegas is an important hub for the future of electric vehicles, and we're glad to be a part of it," spokesman Adam Kress said. Within the next 10 years, the company hopes to open 100 microfactories around the globe. XTREME GREEN ELECTRIC VEHICLES Xtreme Green Electric Vehicles Inc. runs a 50,000-square-foot factory in North Las Vegas specializing in rugged vehicles. The company has clients in the United States and internationally, in South Africa, Saudi Arabia and a number of South American countries. "We are rapidly working on expanding our overseas presence because they seem to really understand the value of our electric vehicles," founder and CEO Neil Roth said. Roth started his company in the valley because he lives here. But Nevada is a good place to do business -- the leasing conditions and tax incentives are beneficial, he says. Roth, who praised Gov. Brian Sandoval's administration for its focus on creating jobs and diversifying the economy, will travel with the governor to Poland this summer on a trade mission. For now, XTreme focuses exclusively on manufacturing outdoor utility vehicles, ATVs and service vehicles for police departments, park services and universities. Not only are the vehicles electric and green, but keeping them running is cheaper than gasoline, he said. For every $1,000 spent on gas, Roth said, only about $10 is spent on electric. By producing ATVs and utility vehicles, Xtreme has carved out a steady niche for itself. But the company hasn't reached the point of branching out into consumer products. "We need to expand and create the cash flow we need to go into that business," Roth said. MIMS MOTORS Talk to Eric Mims, CEO of Mims Motors, for five minutes, and he will present in detail his vision to market an electric car to the masses. Mims claims to have developed a two-seater prototype that can travel, on a single charge, more than three times the distance of the Tesla Model S, which achieves a range of 270 miles. Mims said recently his company was $2.1 million and 48 weeks away from being able to put cars on the road and up for sale. The company still is raising funds but is taking pre-orders on its website. K2 ENERGY In Henderson, K2 Energy manufactures rechargeable lithium iron phosphate batteries, which K2 officials say are safer than the lithium-ion batteries favored by Tesla. Lithium-ion batteries can explode. "When you have troops involved, or in a medical situation, you want the safest batteries on the market," marketing director Lysle Oliveros said. Nine years ago, K2 started with about four employees and a couple of card tables. It since has grown to include about 65 employees. K2 doesn't specifically focus on cars, but Oliveros says the company's batteries are in a lot of vehicles -- including retrofitted older hybrids and many cars produced by high-end manufacturers. But it's hard to justify breaking into the consumer market when many mainstream manufacturers get batteries at a discount, Oliveros said. "The margins on most cars are really, really low," he said. "It's hard to sustain that market, especially if the demand isn't super high." Currently, K2's batteries are in major airline jets, power scooters and the Navy's electromagnetic railgun, a projectile launcher. And the firm is open to expanding its portfolio. "We will always have an eye on electric vehicles," he said. "Always. Right now, the dream is to be completely electric, but the lifestyle is not ready for that." HOBBYIST VEHICLES Then there are the Las Vegas Valley tinkerers. Bob Brandys, a member of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association for five years, took a page from Christopher Lloyd's character in "Back to the Future" and retrofitted a DeLorean with a lithium-ion battery. Brandys said he chose the DeLorean for its fiberglass body and its "coolness factor." (Tesla borrowed DeLorean's vertical-opening doors for its Model X.) "If you make an electric vehicle, you want it to look futuristic," Brandys said. For the past 20 years, Brandys has participated in the DeLorean Car Show, transporting his car as far as Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to show it off. But even Brandys concedes that retrofitting a classic car like the DeLorean doesn't make sense for most consumers. Unlike most drivers who turn to electric vehicles to save on gas, Brandys rebuilt his car as a hobby. He calls it a "grown-up toy" and admits it isn't very useful for driving long distances. "It's not a real functional electric vehicle," he said. If drivers plan their day well, they can get around Las Vegas without needing to charge their vehicles, said Reece, of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association. But longer distances remain a challenge. He said the primary challenge for electric vehicles over the past several years has been convincing the American public to give up their gas guzzlers. Larry Gareffa wants to play a role in raising awareness about electric cars. He brings his '65 electric Mustang, nicknamed "Sparky," to First Friday, where he said about 1,000 people swing by each month to chat about it. "My thing is to get the word out to the ordinary people who might want to convert one of their cars into electric or buy an electric car," Gareffa said. Reece, who taught a class last month at the College of Southern Nevada about converting gas engines to electric engines, said the governor should work to offer credits to consumers for going electric, especially given the $1.3 billion tax abatement the state gave to Tesla. "We have very few, if any, concessions on purchasing an electric car," Reece said. "Since we're building the battery here, it would be nice to promote the industry." [© 2015 The Tribune] ... http://ecomento.com/2015/07/23/tesla-isnt-the-only-electric-car-maker-in-nevada/ Tesla isn’t the only electric-car maker in Nevada July 23, 2015 ... http://lveva.org/ Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association ... https://localmotors.com/3d-printed-car/ Local Motors ... Xtreme Green Electric Vehicles http://www.xgpinc.com/ ... http://mims-motors.com/ Mims Motors [videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk0rK4OStZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHTlgp4mj4M ] ... http://store.peakbattery.com/packs1.html k2battery.com store For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://autoomobile.com/news/2014-nissan-leaf-age-dont-matter/10025424/ 2014 Nissan Leaf: Age Don't Matter http://www.ktvz.com/news/oregon-finalizes-its-part-of-west-coast-electric-highway/34256002 Oregon finalizes its part of West Coast Electric Highway http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150720/NEWS/150729986 http://www.ironcountytoday.com/view/full_story/26767145/article-EV-chargers-in-Zion-a-step-toward-a-cleaner-Southern-Utah-?instance=special_coverage_bullets_right_column $5/3days Zion and Kolob Canyon Visitor Centers-UT http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/575/assets/ET9E_Kolob_EVSE_6.jpg + EVLN: Atkinson buys £30k 100mi i3 EV after selling £8M F1 super-ice {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Racing-to-make-the-best-EV-in-the-Las-Vegas-NV-valley-tp4676976.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
