Ford Positions Itself for EVs

In the past year there has been a plethora of news about the American car companies. General Motors and Chrysler have received a large extent of the attention due to their acceptance of government bailout money. On the other hand, Ford Motor Company never put in a bid for bailout money, which has caused them to slip into the background and be forgotten. I am happy to learn that Ford has quietly been positioning the company for electrification. Next year Ford will release the 2011 Transit Connect EV with the hopes that it will be the perfect utility van for companies based in large cities. One year later, the 2012 Ford Focus EV is set to be released to the public. Prototypes of the electric Focus can be seen throughout Hollywood and on the Jay Leno Show in the Green Car Challenge. Its release in 2011 will make it one of the first commercially available all-electric sedans. Ford’s ambitious plans include many more electric vehicles to be on the road soon after the Focus. In order to design these new cars and electric power trains, Ford engineers need to go back to school. That is the reason Ford has partnered with the University of Detroit Mercy to create an Advanced Electric Vehicle Program. There are a total of seven classes that will help Ford engineers and other engineers gain the skills needed to design electric automobiles. This is all exciting news and I look forward to hearing more from the Ford Motor Company.

Th!nk

I have been following Th!nk, a small electric car company out of Norway, for over four years. Th!nk began as a part of Ford Motor Company back in the early nineties during the EV1 era, when the last electric car revolution started. It has been sold and resold many times over the past ten years. However the current owners and investors are serious about putting electric cars on the road throughout the world. I am excited about their current model, The Th!nk City. It is similar to my 1980 electric Comuta-Car, except completely modernized. The Th!nk City has a one hundred mile range, a top speed over sixty five miles per hour, and space for two adults and two children. You can even buy it as a convertible!

Recently Th!nk announced that they have hired several well known leaders from the automotive and sustainable technology industries to bolster their management team. Additionally, Th!nk disclosed that there are plans to build a factory in Indiana to manufacture the Th!nk City. There is a good chance that this decision was influenced by EnerDel, a battery manufacturer located in Indianapolis, Indiana. EnerDel has a 31% stake in Th!nk and produces the batteries for the Th!nk City. I think Indiana is a great place to have the factory because I go to school at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology which is in Terre Haute, Indiana.
For More Information on Th!nk: Th!nk.no

Tesla Motors

As you can tell by the logo for this blog, I am a huge fan of Tesla Motors. Tesla is single handedly revolutionizing the car industry by changing the way people view electric cars. Rather than slow golf carts, electric cars are now perceived as extreme driving machines, having 100% torque at 0 rpm and outperforming Porches and Ferraris. The team and directors at Tesla are 100% devoted to being the guiding light for other electric automobile startups and even larger car companies. The company has already reached overall corporate profitability and has delivered over 900 electric Roadsters. Tesla is selling these beautiful, fun, fully capable electric sports cars throughout the United States and Europe. The future for this company looks exceptionally bright. There are plans for a 5 +2 seat sports sedan that fits into the $50,000 range that will be delivered starting in 2012 with a family sedan to come soon after. For more information check them out TeslaMotors.com

What is this blog about?

I created this blog to educate myself and others about the past, present, and future of electric vehicles. I hope to include posts about the history of these cars, current advancements, what the future may hold, and the technology that has and is being developed to further EV's global acceptance. I will start by working on a post or two a weekend. Stay tuned and feel free to comment. If you have a neat story and think it should be posted feel free to drop me an email, chadconway@gmail.com

Thanks,
Chad

About Me

Hello and welcome,
My name is Chad Conway. I am a sophomore-engineering student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. I am currently majoring in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Beyond my course work I enjoy spending time as the electrical team leader on the school's EcoCAR Project. Through this project students at Rose-Hulman are competing against other top engineering colleges and universities to design and install an efficient power train into a Saturn Vue vehicle. This work includes putting together models and simulations in MathWorks MatLab and National Instruments LabView. Ultimately, the car will be assembled and tested before competitions.
My real passion is electric cars. Starting in my sophomore year in high school I began working on electric car projects. By my junior year I had completely rebuilt a 1980 electric Comuta-Car that I drive as my primary means of transportation to this day. This practical experience leads me to believe that electric drive is the most efficient and practical alternative to internal combustion engines. I am keeping well informed of developments in battery technology and dreams of a day when super capacitors will replace chemical energy storage. My career goal is to work with an automotive design team, engineering the world’s best electric vehicles.
My experience includes a summer internship at the MIT Media Lab. At MIT I was fortunate to assist the Smart Cities Group designing the City Car. I am honored at having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and proud of the memorable project that resulted from this effort.
I am a team player that excels when challenged and looks forward to making the world a better place through engineering.