Conventional wisdom is that working trucks and 18 wheelers are too big and heavy for electric batteries. While it might be true that current batteries alone could not power a large truck, they can improve the efficiency. The utility company Southern California Edison has developed a working prototype plug in hybrid truck over 5 years ago. The truck weighs 26,000 lbs with the hybrid system adding 1,000 lbs. They are looking to add another to their fleet.

Another company, Eaton, produces smaller hybrid drive-trains for smaller trucks and buses. They are currently developing plug in hybrid systems for larger trucks. According to Kevin Beaty of Eaton, “The point is, can batteries help improve the performance and fuel economy of an 18-wheeler? Absolutely they can”.

With still high prices for diesel fuel, anything that can improve efficiency of our truck fleet should be on the table. Work on heavy vehicle plug in hybrid technology is still in its early phases, but the development should have benefits for all vehicles down the line.

Source: Ny Times

Hybrid Technologies, the electric vehicle development company that we profiled last month, has utilized a unique way to sell a car. On the Sam’s Club website. The car was sold as part of a “Once in a Lifetime Own the World’s Ultimate Electric Super Car Package“. The package included the first production model of their electric Super Car, as well as travel, hotel and racetrack time in Los Angeles. The package went on sale yesterday and sold only an hour later. It looks likely that Hybrid Technologies may use Sam’s Club to sell more of their cars as they go into full production.

You can view the Sam’s club sales page here

The all electric Super Car boasts a top speed of 150mph, 0 to 60 time of 5 seconds, and range of 200 miles.

Full specs for the Super Car here

Dean Kamen, the prolific inventor most famous for the iconic Segway, has been tinkering with hybrid electric cars. He now has built a prototype car that is listed on the registration as a 2008 DEKA Revolt. Based on the body of the discontinued Ford Think, the car uses lithium batteries and a revolutionary Stirling engine. The batteries power the car directly, while the Stirling engine powers secondary features like heating and defrosters. Then when the battery runs low, the Stirling will recharge the batteries and extend the range of the car. The car will go 60 miles on a single charge.

Kamen has never backed down from attempting to solve huge issues of the world, like clean water, electricity for developing countries and transportation. “The car is a step along the way to be able to build, in high volume, high-quality, low-cost electric generation for a couple billion people,” Kamen explained. He hopes to have the car in production in 2 years.

Will the DEKA Revolt make the worldwide impact on transportation that eluded Kamen with the Segway? Time will tell.

AFS TrinityPower is a small company with a history of big innovations. They have developed a plug-in hybrid technology that allows their test SUVS to achieve an equivalent of 150 MPG. The vehicles can go 40 miles in all electric mode, then unlimited miles in gas hybrid mode. The XH-150 Extreme Hybrid™ platform is currently operating in 2 prototype Saturn Vue vehicles. They hope to move the technology into commercial cars within 2-3 years. AFS Trinity is actively seeking government assistance to move forward with their research.

Here is a video of the XH-150 in action:

As we reported 2 weeks ago, BMW is making an electric version of their popular “Mini Cooper” car. Now more information is available about their lease program. They are keeping advertising of the program fairly low key so they don’t have to turn too many people away.

The lease is only available in at 8 dealerships in California, New York, and New Jersey. The car requires special technicians which are only located at this small number of locations. The lease will include all maintenance and parts.

Formal applications will be taken for a 3-4 week period starting mid November, and delivery of the car will be in January. The cost of the year long lease is still not determined, but expected to be in the $500-600 range.

Interested? You can contact MINI here

Tesla received a infusion of $40 million in convertible debt financing from its investors this week. The board approved the cash to speed up the manufacturing process of the Tesla Roadster.

“Forty million is significantly more than we need,” said Elon Musk, Tesla Chairman and CEO. He goes on to say “However, the board, investors and I felt it was important to have significant cash reserves.”

Not only will the money help with production, but they will also use the cash to expand Tesla’s electric powertrain supply business and future product development. Tesla, like every other car maker, has recently had some issues due to the economic downturn and credit crunch, but demand for their cars is still high.

If you can’t wait until 2010, you can own a 2009 plug in Toyota Prius right now. The car is being auctioned off on Ebay right now with proceeds to benefit the non profit awareness group Plug in America. The car is a brand new 2009 Toyota Prius with all available options, and the professionally installed A123 Hymotion Plugin Hybrid Kit. This kit does not void the factory Toyota warranty.

The car has a pure electric mode of about 40 miles and an estimated 100-150 MPG. So if you want to be the first person in your city with a plug in Prius, head over and check out the live auction here. There are 7 days left and the current bid is $42,000.

As part of a bold new energy policy, the Danish government has exempted electric cars from all taxes until 2012. It’s all part of the Scandinavian country’s aggressive plan towards renewable energy. In March of this year Denmark’s Dong Energy in a partnership with a San Jose company, announced plans to build a 20,000 node recharging grid to be completed in 2011. That grid will be mostly powered from renewable wind energy.

The new tax credit has caused a rush of car makers looking to release electric cars for the favorable economic conditions in Denmark. Some of the car makers entering the market are Mercedes Benz, Saab, Volvo, France’s Axiom, China’s BYD, and America’s Tesla Motors.

It should be interesting in the next coming years to see if Denmark becomes the first country to have a real renewable energy powered car fleet.

Amid the economic turmoil at Chrysler, they have killed their planned hybrid programs before ever delivering a car. The Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen hybrid sport utility vehicles have been discontinued. Chrysler had claimed to have 3,000 orders already for the hybrid SUV models, but those orders will never be filled now. The downturn in SUVs as well as the economic downturn were too much for company to continue down the path of these more expensive models.

With plant closures, a 25% workforce layoff, and ongoing talks of a merger with GM, the future of Chrysler’s hybrid efforts seem uncertain. However, the planned plug in electric vehicles we reported about last month are apparently still on track.

Tesla may have had some setbacks lately with the faltering economy, but they are pressing forward with their much anticipated 4 door model. The Tesla S (S for sedan) is now set to be released in 2011, and the company has started releasing teaser photos onto the Internet.

The new 4 door sedan is expected to have an impressive 240 mile all electric range with a 0 to 60 time of under 6 seconds. The price tag is set at $60,000.