Oregon

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Arcimoto’s Three-Wheeled Electric Pulse

September 29, 2009 in Consumer News, EVs, Future Cars, small cars by kristen | 2 comments

Arcimoto of Eugene, Oregon, revealed its three-wheeled electric vehicle last week, called the Pulse. It may look like low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles of recent years, but this little guy can go a bit fast and a bit farther than many three-wheeled EVs.

The Arcimoto Pulse is a two-seater with a range of 50-100 miles, depending on terrain and speed, and a top speed of 55 mph. It can charge at a standard U.S. 110-volt outlet in six hours.

The car isn’t quite ready for the road yet, but Arcimoto is taking preorders. $500 will hold a place in line for a car that’s expected to come in under $20,000 when it rolls off the assembly line in Eugene in Fall 2010. If you take a look at the Pulse and decide it’s not for you, the company will refund $450 of the deposit. If it is for you, and you want to trick it all out with more power and a schmancy radio, they can do that, too.

Row, Row, Row Your Car: The HumanCar

May 5, 2009 in Consumer News, EVs, Future Cars, MPG, New Tech, small cars by kristen | No comments

Oregon-based HumanCar Inc. made some big announcements recently — including the fact that the company plans to build its HumanCar neighborhood electric vehicle and sell it to the public. The open-topped car may not seem too practical in rainy Oregon, but its lead-acid batteries can store energy to be used at home, should you need a little extra juice.

Where, you might ask, does the human come into play in the HumanCar? While the batteries can be charged at any standard 110-volt outlet, they can also be topped off by people power. The car seats up to four humans, and each seat has an oar-like handle. The occupants can “row” the car for a bit to generate energy that can be stored in the cells and used later.

The HumanCar NEV is limited to 35 mph, but the FM-4 is limited only by your good health. It’s powered solely by people.

Oregon and Mitsubishi Partners in Charging

April 27, 2009 in Biz News, EVs, New Tech, PHEVs, small cars by kristen | 1 comment

Kulongoske and i MiEV

Ted Kulongoski, Governor of Oregon, John Koenig of Mistubishi Motors North America, and Jim Piro, head of electric utility PGE all took the podium on Earth Day to announce Oregon’s partnership with Mistubishi to establish a statewide network of charging stations. Presumably, these stations will be used by Mitsubishi’s i MiEV fleet when they come to Oregon for testing later this year.

Piro and Kulongoski both interated that Oregon is moving away from fossil fuel power, with the idea of emissions-free driving at the source and from the tailpipe (metaphorically, of course. EVs don’t have tailpipes). The region PGE serves is already number one in purchasing renewable power, so it seems hearts and minds of its customers have already been won over.

Kulongoski also said he was working with the federal Department of Transportation on greening the interstates. He’d like to see quick chargers at rest stops along Interstates 5 and 84 in Oregon, and apparently the U.S. government hasn’t shut down the idea completely.

Image of Gov. Kulongoski with i MiEV and charger by Kristen Hall-Geisler.

Oregon Charges Ahead in Standardizing Plug-In Parking

April 6, 2009 in EVs, New Tech, PHEVs by kristen | 2 comments

The state of Oregon issued an RFP (request for proposals) last week asking for companies that make public electric-car charging stations to submit their systems for consideration in the state’s green transportation plans. The state already has a bunch of stations, mostly in the Portland metro area, but it wants to increase that number to hundreds and spread the EV love as far and wide as possible.

The Oregon Department of Transportation was authorized to ramp up the curbside charging program last November, including standardizing the look, performance, and safety of the chargers. Also, they’d like to buy in bulk to make things easy, so charging stations built by hand in the family garage likely aren’t going to cut it.

The chargers won’t be limited to curbside parking. ODOT envisions them at park-and-ride locations, retail parking lots, and motor pools, among others. Of course, Good Green Cars already covered the unveiling of a curbside charger in Oregon City last fall.

Future of the Auto Industry: EVs, Biodiesel, Bikes

December 1, 2008 in Biodiesel, Consumer News, EVs, Future Cars, Hybrids, Hydrogen, MPG, New Tech, PHEVs by kristen | No comments

Fiamp Charging

Oregon Public Broadcasting’s call-in show, “Think Out Loud,” was about the future of the automotive industry this morning. The program focused on the state of Oregon, and most of the guests and callers were from the state, but the show had a lot to say about where personal transportation is headed in the next decade for the entire U.S.

The show, which aired Monday, December 1, was called “A Sustainable Auto Industry.” Guests included John Viera, Director of Ford Sustainable Business Strategies; Mark Perry, Director of Product Planning for Nissan North America; a representative from Governor Kulongoski’s office; and an assistant professor at Oregon State University’s College of Business. So they had their bases covered.

Highlights of the show (though you should listen to the whole thing):

  • Viera says Ford will not go back to making so many trucks, no matter what the price of gas is. The company apparently is trying to learn its lesson and produce for the tomorrow instead of yesterday.
  • Perry says Oregon will be one of the first launch markets for its new EVs in 2010. Yay!
  • He also said Nissan wants to have 10% of its sales to be EVs by 2020 — that’s about 100,000 vehicles in the U.S.
  • My favorite phrase came from Chris Warner, Kulongoski’s transportation adviser. He says there is no silver bullet, only “silver buckshot,” which includes alternative fuel cars, bikes, walking, public transportation, and whatever else the future holds.

A lot of basic alternative-fuel questions were answered, like shifting emissions from the tailpipe to the smokestack, and the recyclability of electric-vehicle batteries. It’s a good listen for newbies and alt-vehicle veterans alike.

A Sustainable Auto Industry

A Hand-Built EV: The XP-Humm-E

November 24, 2008 in EVs by kristen | No comments

David Hazen of Eugene, Oregon, had a dream: to build an electric car in the same manner as you would a hand-crafted wooden boat. And on October 22, 2008, he achieved this dream — mostly. The XP-Humm-E is still missing a few niceties, like doors and carpeting, but it runs and drives, and he’s even got a VIN from the state.

Here’s the 7-minute video of how Hazen constructed the car, which ended up as a Frankenstein of VW, Saab, and Kawasaki parts with glass-backed cedar body panels. It will even have removable gullwing doors; Lamborghini, eat your heart out! The 400 pounds of batteries and 12-hp electric motor propel the XP-Humm-E to a top speed (so far) of 39.5 mph. Normally, according to the video, Hazen can tool around at 35 mph for about 35 miles on a charge.

The video includes an in-car, driver’s-eye-view camera, so you can hear the wind and the road noise, but no engine. For those of you new to the EV experience, that’s a pretty good approximation of what you get. As the car gets more complete, those noises will be lessened, too.

Portland, OR, Most Sustainable

September 25, 2008 in EVs, Hybrids, Two Wheels by kristen | 2 comments

An editor recently forwarded the results of the Sustain Lane 2008 U.S. City Rankings, asking me to please not gloat about the fact that the city I’ve lived in — and loved — since 2001 is the most sustainable city in the nation. Whatever, dude! We’re number one! Although the easy-to-read dartboard design makes it obvious how well Portland scored in a variety of categories, I’ll run down a few of our car-related kudos for those who are unaware of our awesomeness.

  • Curbside EV Charging. The local electric utility company, PGE, just this summer began installing curbisde charging stations in the Portland metro area. Right now, there’s a total of two of the new EV chargers, but most other cities don’t even have a plan yet (though Boulder is one-upping us with its vehicle-to-grid system).
  • A chain of EV dealerships. So it’s only a chain of two. EcoMotion has been one of the top sellers of ZAP vehicles in the country — and its been open for just a year. The shiny, new EVs are out front, but the back room holds a trove of used high-mileage, low-emissions SmartWay-certified used cars.
  • The OEVA. The Oregon Electric Vehicle Association, part of the national EVA, is active in the area. The offer assistance to those who want to buy electric or convert a car on their own, and they have a presence at almost every green event in town — and there are a lot of those.
  • The MAX. While Seattle was building the famed, and failed, monorail system, Portland was laying down tracks for light rail. The latest completed addition, the Yellow Line, finished early and under budget. More light rail connections are being built as we speak.
  • Bikes everywhere. Portland has miles and miles of bikeable streets, with designated bike lanes, for the thousands of people who commute using pedal power. Any bike shop has a map of bikeable routes available, and people are even stretching their biking season into the first rainy months of the year.

Okay, PDX is not perfect. There are some safety issues on MAX, especially in the suburbs, and there are notorious and sometimes violent clashes between drivers and bikers almost every month. But there are also a lot of good green car things about Portland that I didn’t even mention, like its bid to build an electric car factory in the future, or the fun and inclusive scooter scene.

I’m done gloating. Check out the rest of the sustainability rankings to find your city. If it’s low on the list — or not on it at all — get moving. Every location on here can always do better. Even Portland.

Photo by Doug Geisler.