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Like it or not, cars will be greener (read: no more V8 growls). Even if there is some sort of speaker to replicate the "sound", it will never come close to the real thing. However, in our local context, owning a car with a V8 engine is reserved for about 2% of the population who are rich enough. Most of us would rather not hear our engines at all, not when it sound like moo-ing cows. Which means, Singapore, given it's tiny area, lack of space to stretch ANY engine and ridiculous tax rules, is an ideal location for electric cars. Although still largely impractical for families, the 2 seater Mini-E is still one of the more practical zero-emission car out there. Retaining the hippy looks of it's petrol-driven cousin, the Mini Cooper, the E looks pretty darn good too. (Anyway, the current Mini Cooper can hardly seat more than 2) If NEA meant anything they said about going green, perhaps investing in charging stations is a good proper step ahead. Start with the many multi-storey carparks here. Given the compact size of the Mini-E's charging wall panel, space should not be a problem. I'm no electrician or engineer, but I do think that it is not entirely difficult to hook up these wall panels to the mains. A typical charging panel Next, following the example set by the new City Square mall, setup charging stations in carparks of Malls, Office Buildings etc. Combine all these ideal factors with the low mileage that Singaporeans travel from point to point, and driving an electric vehicle might not sound very far-fetched. To this extent, the Mini-E is probably ideal, other than the lack of engine noise, it handles and drives like any other Mini out there. With 220nm of torque available the instant u step on the accelerator, and a top speed of around 152km/h, it will leave most cars biting the dust too. The stated 167 kilometers range on a single charge is also more than adequate for anyone living in Singapore. From point to point, if you travel from Changi to Tuas, it would at most use up 1/2 of the battery's capacity. However, this is only an ideal scenario. With space for only the driver and a passenger, only those who are single, attached or married without children might consider the Mini-E. I am not doubting the government's willingness to setup charging stations. Than there is the problem of getting people to adopt a petrol-free driving lifestyle, such as having to plug in everytime you park (which would not take more than 2 minutes??). Limited space, although there is still a 60L boot! Also, for the zero emissions dream to be realised, a standard charging format should also be fixed upon. The most difficult hurdle to cross right now? Cost and size of the batteries. It will sky rocket the price of the car. Than again, if the government is willing to give electric car owners a tax break, it might not cost much different from your regular Mini (applicable only to Singapore). Quite honestly, the weird weather patterns has gotten the better of me and this post came as a result of that. Let's not just sit and talk about it, it is time to start doing something.

According to a recent report, Nissan and Daimler are discussing swapping engines and electric vehicle technology. While details are limited, Japan's Nikkei business daily said Nissan wants "large" engines from Daimler. In exchange, Nissan would provide Daimler with electric vehicles, batteries, and/or equity. The paper added Daimler is already in talks with Renault, so discussions would likely be expanded into three-way negotiations. Later this week, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn will brief executives on the details of the proposed partnership talks. If everything goes according to plan, three-way negotiations will occur shortly. The report also stated Daimler is eager to reach a deal before their general shareholders meeting on April 14. While no reason was cited, the paper said Daimler wants to be cautious about entering another capital tie-up.

http://www.witricity.com/pages/application.html install the device on top of car park ceiling, like that every car can charge up without plugging to socket or electric kiosk....this company has the potential man.....keep a lookout for its listing in Nasdaq in future however the constant and long exposure of EMF to human may bring side effects.

cant find the option at AXS machine.

Hiya MCF brudders! Was talking to my colleague earlier on and she mentioned something about Korean barbecue. Now I can't get the BBQ thingy off my mind. Any recommendations for a table-top BBQ grill? Preferably one which is the smokeless type (or not too smoky). Thanks in advance, bros!

Read the news that E-max is going to sell electric scooters in Singapore soon. So I did some internet reading up, and saw this so called Electric Bicycle that actually looks like a scooter. http://www.x-tremescooters.com/electric_bi...li/xb700li.html The extra two pedals....somehow allows the manufacturer to get it classified as a bicycle...very smart of them! Would this be a better choice for Singapore IF it can be classified as a bicycle by LTA. Any chance?

Hi bros, Any recos for electric hotplates ? mainly for use of CNY steamboat. decided to junk the traditional one and use soemthing new this year. brand / model / comments . All welcome. mice

Hi Guys, I am looking for a electric bicycle to buy. Any one has any ideas where to get them? Any reviews? Thanks! Too fat for my own good now. Need to have assisted exercise.

Hi Need to have my car lock on my car replace and also to have the necessary alarm connected to this door. Any one know of experience workshop who have done it before. Pls recommond me should you have come across it. Thanks you very much..

Reserved it NOW!! Selling like hot cakes! http://www.xxxxxxx.com/news/news.php?view=1&newsid=911 An ambitious project to built a production ready electric car by 2009. Officials from ZAP (Zero Air Pollution) and China Youngman Automotive Group announced their Joint Venture Company has initiated the RFQ (Request For Quotation) process for a vehicle project called the ZAP Alias. The Joint Venture Company targets the Alias to retail at a price of $30,000 in a two-passenger vehicle with a top-speed of over 100 miles per hour and a range of at least 150 miles per charge. The goal is to bring an affordable, highway capable electric vehicle to market quickly to capitalize on surging interest for electric car technologies. Reserve a ZAP Alias electric car through their website at www.zapworld.com and say good riddance to hefty petrol bills!

Israel electric car project aims to wipe out oilSell them like mobile phones, kill oil by 2020 By John Lettice → More by this author Published Tuesday 22nd January 2008 14:20 GMT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nail down your security priorities. Ask the experts and your peers at The Register Security Debate, April 17, 2008 DLD08 Israel today announced backing for Project Better Place, intended to switch motor transportation from oil to electric, and by a massive coincidence one of the project's prime movers, Shai Agassi of Better PLC, was evangelising at the DLD (Digital Life, Design) show in Munich. His objective, he says, is to "take one country off oil in a way that is repeatable." Israel is that country. And the model is the mobile phone. Really. The point of choosing Israel, says Agassi, is that doing it in a chaotic country is important, and he claims Israel is the most chaotic nation he knows. Plus there are helpful limits to how far you can drive in Israel - the endurance of a electric car on one 'fill up' is about 200km, and that easily covers the furthest you can go within Israel. He takes a pretty rational view of how far people are prepared to go to save the planet, and when it comes to cars that's not very far. It's got to be your car, no shares, with performance and size at least equivalent to today's models. It's got to be affordable (which includes image and cred, so lose points for non 'green' Hummers), and it's got to be fairly easy to 'fill up'. That last one's one of the gotchas of electric, and it's Agassi's primary point of attack. So you've got a vehicle that allows people to be green without it actually costing them anything to do so, and you've got the 'filling stations'. Which work this way. Israel will be blanketed with a network of battery exchange stations and roadside charge points which allow the cars to be charged whenever they're parked. Agassi suggests there will be about 500,000 of these, and points out that it's doable, because they've got them in Sweden, Norway and parts of Canada, where if you don't plug in when you stop your engine freezes. Charge points and swap stations mean there's no need for lengthy charge periods, so 'filling up' should take no more time than it does currently at a petrol station. Israel's helping with the economics. It currently taxes electric vehicles at 10 per cent and petrol at 72 per cent, and the government has promised to keep the electric car tax at that level until at least 2015. The switchover to electric vehicles is where the mobile phone model comes in. Say the motorist pays the equivalent of their current annual petrol bill for a mileage plan, they could be given the car to use, and it would become theirs after four years. Other mobile plans could operate - all you can eat unlimited mileage, pay as you go, and so on. The plan is to have the first of the cars on the road in 2009, 100,000 in 2010 and Israel off oil within ten years. Singapore boleh

I want one wor... Forget the GTR, I wanna go green! LOL! http://www.teslamotors.com/

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../333185/1/.html Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said on Wednesday that Nissan would launch an electric car in the United States in 2010, which would be introduced to the global market by both brands two years later. "Nissan is working on an electric vehicle which will be launched in the US in 2010," Ghosn told journalists on the sidelines of the Geneva Auto Show. He said new legislation in California aimed at cutting CO2 emissions gave extra impetus to research into alternative energy sources and products. Renault and Nissan will work together on electric technology, but with "different applications as the car will not be identical" under the two different brands, Ghosn said. "We will target different markets according to the brands," with Europe a priority for Renault while Nissan will focus on Japan and China, he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Expecting will not be coming cheap, nevertheless, with the roaring crude oil price keep moving up north + the world are promoting protect the global warming and environment, believe it will be looking forward by many keen buyers.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp.../316345/1/.html German battery could jump-start electric car production Posted: 09 December 2007 1628 hrs The hybrid light-duty dump truck 'Canter Eco-D', produced by Daimler's subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus FRANKFURT: German cars are known for strength, speed and high fuel consumption, but a firm in eastern Saxony has designed a lithium-ion battery membrane that could finally make electric cars common. For years, battery-powered cars have been hampered by technological hurdles, with researchers seeking to resolve problems of weight, autonomy and ways of recharging vehicles quickly and easily. Recent progress towards lighter and more powerful batteries has been made however, in particular by groups like the Japanese car maker Toyota with its hybrid vehicles, and high-tech firms in France. Germans were said to be plodding along behind, but batteries made by the a firm called Li-Tec "take up 30 percent less volume than those from Toyota" and "allow you to go three times further for the same weight than French models," said Tim Schaefer, a director of the company in eastern Kamenz. "The foundations have now been laid" for the building of electric cars that also deliver performance, he added. A spokesman for the German tool and auto parts company Bosch said: "It's a step towards totally electric cars." Housed in a stylish rectangular silver pouch, the "Separion" consists of two lithium electrodes in an electrolyte, or liquid conductor. What differentiates it from similar batteries is that the electrodes are separated by a flexible ceramic membrane that provides greater thermal stability, according to the German group. A drawback of lithium-ion batteries is a risk of explosion if they overheat. According to Felix von Borck, director of the Akasol research centre in western Darmstadt, the Separion goes a long way towards resolving that problem. "It's a true technological break," Borck said. "It is a crucial boost for the success of lithium-ion batteries." Li-Tec has joined a consortium that includes Bosch, chemical giant BASF and German car maker Volkswagen to develop the product, which has existed for two years. "This is just the technology," von Borck said in reference to current models. "Now someone must be found to produce them" on an industrial scale. Given past problems, many industrialists remain sceptical, while others are developing competing energy sources of their own like hydrogen fuel cells. "BMW developed projects in the 1990s," a spokesman for the Bavarian car maker said, but concluded they were too complex to bring to the market. "Today there has certainly been progress," he nonetheless added. "We think the first series of electric cars could arrive within five to 10 years. But it's a niche market for small city cars

Check out this video - Guess who wins? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRrj7dyeXjw Guess again!

hi all, i have a question to ask... if i want to buy a electric cart or buggy for my own use,do i need to register with lta.... when can i get second hand buggy or carts in singapore? thanks for yout inputs

he new line of Phoenix electric vehicles claims to have addressed at least the re-charge side of the problem in a most dramatic way. And if the claimed 10-minute re-charge time is true, then that certainly lessens the concerns over driving range as it becomes possible to quickly re-charge your vehicle at your destination before returning back to where you started.

Hi Bros, Realised that my ride's (Octavia A5)Cigarette lighter socket's current will not be cut-off after I cut the engine (unlike my prev Honda). Was wondering if it will be on continously or will be cut off automatically after x minutes.. If its on permanently, anyway to make it cutoff cos I'm worried if I forgot to unplug my devices.. it may drain the car batt. Off-topic: Anyone interested in Garmin Nuvi 310.. check out my classified ad http://www.mycarforum.com/classifieds/classifieds.pl?id=7707

The Chevrolet Volt concept electric vehicle is a four-passenger, battery-powered car that features GM's first use of the new E-flex electric propulsion system designed to provide flexibility in the choice of fuel sources for electric vehicles of the future. "At GM we believe tomorrow's automobiles must be flexible enough to accommodate many different energy sources," explained Rick Wagoner, chairman and CEO, General Motors Corporation. "And a key part of that flexibility will be enabled by the development of electrically driven cars." Wagoner explained the E-flex is GM's next-generation electric propulsion system that will always use an electric motor to power the wheels but can be configured to use electricity produced by a fuel cell, a generator powered by an engine, or from a battery that is charged from the power grid. The lithium-ion battery in the Volt can be fully charged by plugging it into a 110-volt outlet for approximately six hours per day. When it is fully charged, the Volt offers a driving range of 40 miles. To increase the useful range of the Volt, it includes a 1.0-liter 3-cylinder turbocharged engine that operates at a constant speed to create electricity and charge the battery. The engine is designed to run on E85 fuel, which is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. The engine does not power the vehicle, it is only used to produce electricity to recharge the battery and only the electric motor powers the vehicle. Robert A. Lutz, GM vice chairman explained that in addition to showcasing the E-flex propulsion system, the Volt was designed to show that environmentally conscious vehicles can also look good. While it features cutting edge technology, the Volt is also a design study. While the Volt is a four-door, four-passenger sedan it really looks more like a sleek sports car with classic Chevrolet design elements reminiscent of both Camaro and Corvette. Inside the Volt combines innovative materials and ambient light for a light and airy feel. "First and foremost, this is an advanced technology vehicle that uses little to no fuel at all. But we didn't see any reason why that should compromise its design," said Anne Asensio, executive director, GM Design. Asensio led the design team that created the Volt concept, with designs solicited from GM's studios around the world.

http://www.slate.com/id/2154425 http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061130/sc_nm/...efficiency_dc_1 I was always wonder since young why the car technology never improve? I sense some hidden agenda by the energy co... to prevent this.. with their billions of dollars, even the govt and GM got to bow down to them..

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/10/re...subis.html#more Got chance to own a electric vehicle soon!

Any one used this b4? http://www.daviescraig.com.au/main/display.asp?pid=47

Hi Bros, If need to choose between ADM Electric Supercharger ($680) and E-RAM Electric Supercharger ($750), which one will you take? http://www.electricsupercharger.com http://www.autodesigns.com.sg/prod03.htm Thanks. Regards,

A fren forwarded me the below : [/size] As a continuation of the video about static electricity in which a girl had a fire accident on getting out of her car and directly touching the nosepiece, we come across a similar case: With the generalisation of self-service facilities in petrol stations people should be warned about the outbreak of fires resulting from static electricity while they are pouring in petrol. 150 cases of this type of fire have been investigated and the results were very surprising. 1- Of the 150 cases, more happened to women than men, due to their habit of getting in and out of the vehicle while the petrol is being poured in. 2- In the majority of cases the people had re-entered their cars when the hose was still pouring petrol out (the danger of the triggers on the nosepieces). When they finished refuelling and got out to remove the hose pistol the fire began, as a result of the static electricity. 3- The majority of those affected used rubber-soled footwear and clothes of synthetic fibres. 4- Never use mobile phones when filling up with fuel. 5- It is well known that it is the vapour that comes from the petrol that burns and causes the fire when it makes contact with static charges. 6- In twenty-nine of the cases analysed, the people re-entered their vehicles and later touched the pistols during the petrol fuelling process. This happened in cars of different varieties of makes and models. 7- Seventeen fires occurred before, during or immediately after the cap of the petrol tank was removed and before starting to fill up with petrol. 8- The static charge often results from when a passenger rubs their clothes against the upholstery of the seats on getting in or out of the vehicle. To avoid this, it is recommendable that NOBODY gets in or out of the vehicle while the petrol is being poured in. Movement in or out should only be done BEFORE starting, or when the fuelling is finished and the petrol cap placed. 9- MAXIMISE THE PRECAUTIONS if the petrol has spilt or splashed onto the ground. Highly inflammable vapours are immediately produced which can be ignited by sparks of static electricity from the turning on of electronic equipment (mobile phones, remote controls, etc.) or by the ignition of the vehicle itself. BEFORE starting up the engine again, the spilt petrol must be gathered or neutralised by the petrol station staff. LOADING PETROL IN YOUR VEHICLE: Stop, put the handbrake on and turn off the engine, radio and lights NEVER: Never return to your vehicle while you are pouring in fuel. AS A PRECAUTION: Get used to closing the car door on getting out or into the vehicle and in this way the static electricity will be discharged on touching something metallic. After closing the door TOUCH THE METAL PART OF THE BODYWORK before touching the petrol pump pistol. By doing this the static electricity in your body will be discharged on the metal and not on the pistol. RESPECT THE SAFETY REGULATIONS As mentioned, we undertake this as a daily task, both inside and outside the company. The following bulletin aims to raise public awareness of this danger. I ask you to send this information to ALL your friends and family, especially those carrying children in the cars when pouring in petrol. Thank you for passing on this information. Shell is Safety

cost a fraction of those selling in the market :lol: :lol: