Looks Like Volkswagen Is Serious About EVs

First Martin Eberhard, now this: Volkswagen has hired the guy who ran Renault’s electric vehicle brand operations and put him in charge of global EV sales, a move that suggests the Germans’ are committed to cars with cords.

The German automaker created the position specifically for Jörg Sommer, who will be responsible for EV sales for all Volkswagen brands. As Automotive News Europe notes, luring Sommer away from Renault suggests VW boss Martin Winterkorn wants to challenge Renault-Nissan honcho Carlos Ghosn in the emerging EV segment.

“The Volkswagen Group will be assuming a leading role in e-mobility, as elsewhere,” Christian Klingler, VW’s board member in charge of sales, said. “That means sales must focus intensively on this subject. Jörg Sommer will perform this function for all of the (VW) group’s brands and markets, driving e-mobility forward.”

The competition will be tight. Renault-Nissan plans to spend 4 billion Euros introducing eight electric vehicles within the next few years, beginning with the Nissan Leaf we’ll see in December. Most of those eight cars are Renault models, such as the Renault Fluence EV now testing in Israel, offered in Europe, but Nissan’s also working on an electric Infiniti sedan. Renault-Nissan says it will have the capacity to build 500,000 EVs annually within the next few years, and Ghosn believes electrics will comprise 10 percent of the global market by 2020.

Volkswagen got to the EV party a bit late but promises to have one on the road by 2013. No word yet on what we’ll see first, but it will either be the Up! E-Motion electric city car or an electric Golf. Winterkorn has said VW could sell as many as 300,000 EVs annually by 2018, a figure that would represent 3 percent of its global sales.

To help reach that goal, VW hired Eberhard, the co-founder and first CEO of Tesla Motors, to head up its battery lab at the Electronic Research Lab in Palo Alto, California. Eberhard has said we could see 500-mile batteries within 10 years.

VW’s impending move into the EV segment is part of its broader plan to be the world’s largest automaker by 2018.

Photo: Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board for Volkswagen Group, with the E-Up! concept at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show.

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Celebrate Alt Fuel Vehicle Day

Today is surely marked on everyone’s calendar as the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Day Odyssey. What? You haven’t heard of it? The biannual event celebrates the great strides being made by alt-fuels and the vehicles that use them.

The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium has sponsored the event since 2002. The consortium, which calls West Virginia University home, includes the Department of Energy and companies like Honda and Toyota. It’s purpose is simple: Educate people about all of the things besides gasoline that can propel an automobile and turn people on to all of the automobiles that run on something besides gasoline.

It doesn’t do much good to have a bunch of people preaching to the choir, so the Consortium is organizing eco-friendlier motoring events in 125 venues nationwide, spreading the alt-fuel gospel far and wide.

“Even if you reach that many people but only some of them hear the message, that’s still millions of people that are learning about these cleaner technologies and new technologies that can reduce our dependence on petroleum and help clean our air,” coalition honcho Al Ebron told Ethanol Producer Magazine.

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12 Awesome Airplane Paint Jobs

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Everyone knows flying sucks these days. But for all the hassles and headaches, there's one things airlines still do right -- deck out their planes with cool paint jobs.

Every once in a while an airline will slather a plane or two (and sometimes more) in a custom livery that tells a story. From cartoon characters to heavy metal mascots, here are 12 of the coolest, funniest or downright goofiest we've seen.

We've undoubtedly left out a plane you're convinced belongs on the list. Tell us in the comments.

Above:

Kulula Air

Low-cost South African airline Kulula Air got a lot of press when it rolled out Flying 101, a Boeing 737 scribbled with pithy comments and instructions for use. The airline says the paint job was designed to “demystify air travel.”

It’s not the first time Kulula has embraced humor when decorating planes. It once covered a plane in camouflage and painted "No one saw us coming" on the fuselage.

Photo: Kulula Air

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Solar Roadways Gets $50K to Move Forward

Solar panels may be coming to a road near you a bit sooner thanks to funding from the GE Ecomagination Challenge.

The husband and wife team of Scott and Julie Brusaw we told you about back in September were the first recipients of a Challenge Award of $50,000. Their project to pave roadways with solar panels received the highest number of community votes on the Ecomagination webpage.

According to Scott Brusaw, the award will be used to further research and attract talent to the Solar Roadways project. “This prize money will give us the funding needed to continue bringing together a team of the best and brightest engineers, scientists, companies, and universities on board,” he said.

The Brusaws are already working with university researchers to develop a glass “case” that’s as strong as or stronger than pavement and can encapsulate solar panels. Once these panels are put together, Brusaw envisions parking lots that can provide power for nearby businesses and eventually a network of roadways that double as a clean electric grid. “Our Phase I research is complete and we’re gearing up for Phase II. So far, so good,” he said. “We have a lot of testing to do, but no roadblocks anticipated!”

Over 74,000 people participated in voting for the Ecomagination Challenge champions. In addition to the prize money, Brusaw said that kind of visibility really helped Solar Roadways gain public support.

“We’re offering an actual solution to so many problems that plague the world today,” he said. “We had a worldwide following before the GE Challenge, but this contest gave us exposure to a very large audience.”

Photo: Mark Dixon/YERT

See Also: Solar Roadways Fix The Grid And Crumbling Pavement

This prize money will give us the funding (“walking around money”) needed to continue bringing together a team of the best and brightest engineers, scientists, companies, and universities on board.

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We’ll See More Ethanol In Some Of Our Gas

We’re going to see more ethanol in our gasoline, but only for vehicles made since 2007.

The Environmental Protection Agency granted a waiver that allows refiners to increase from 10 percent to 15 percent the amount of ethanol blended into gasoline. The decision follows months of testing by the EPA and a review of data on E15’s impact on engine durability and emissions that found the fuel is safe for newer automobiles.

“Thorough testing has now shown that E15 does not harm emissions control equipment in newer cars and light trucks,” Lisa P. Jackson, EPA administrator, said in a statement. “Wherever sound science and the law support steps to allow more home-grown fuels in America’s vehicles, this administration takes those steps.”

Refiners have since 1979 blended up to 10 percent ethanol into gasoline for all conventional cars and light trucks. The ethanol industry has lobbied heavily to have that amount increased, arguing ethanol is a cheaper alternative to gasoline and can help ease our dependence on foreign oil.

“This is a first step,” Tom Buis, chief executive officer of the industry trade group Growth Energy, told Bloomberg. Growth Energy joined 54 ethanol producers in seeking the waiver last year. The group had sought an across-the-board bump to 15 percent but accepted the compromise. “We know we have challenges we have to address.”

Not everyone in the ethanol biz is happy.

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Electric Motorcycle GP Draws A Factory Team

Chinese motorcycle manufacturer Zongshen is joining the TTXGP as the electric motorcycle grand prix series’ first factory team.

You’ve probably never heard of Zongshen, but it’s huge in China. The Zongshen Group, which has 52 subsidiaries and 18,000 employees, builds everything from generators to motorcycles. It has partnerships with Harley-Davidson and Piaggio and claims to build more than 1 million motorcycles annually.

Its involvement in the TTXGP marks the first time a major manufacturer has joined the field. The series, which wraps up its first full season with a championship race Oct. 24 in Albacete, Spain, so far has been comprised of startups and passionate amateurs. China’s making a big push for EVs and it’s a huge market for motorcycles, so the TTXGP could get a lot of exposure out of this.

Zongshen, founded in 1982, launched the China Zongshen Motorcycle Racing Team 11 years ago and was the first Chinese team to compete in MotoGP. It also has competed in the Asian Nations Cup and China Superbike Series. Now it’s joining the TTXGP for the 2011 season in a bid to develop battery-electric technology and “provide clean, convenient and safe transportation tools for human beings and improve their life quality.”

“We see racing as critical to improving our technology and demonstrating our products,” team manager Daniel Chung said in a statement. “We join TTXGP to push this philosophy forward into the next generation of motorsport… Racing in TTXGP is the best step forward for our team to build a world championship winning technology for the future.”

Factory rider Chi-Fung Ho, who has been riding for Zongshen since 2002, will pilot the team’s entry in the TTXGP.

Photo: Ngchikit / Wikimedia Commons. The Zhongshen Motorcycle Racing Team in the pits.

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CarWoo Takes the Cheap Suit Out Of Car Sales

If you’ve ever contacted a car dealer online, you’re familiar with the internet sales pitch: relentless phone calls and e-mails making almost any promise just to get a warm body in the showroom.

CarWoo, aims to change that by connecting you with firm offers from dealers while preserving your privacy. The new service only helps out with new car sales right now, though the company says it may open up to used cars at some point.

Here’s how it works. Shoppers pay a fee to CarWoo and select the car they want. Depending upon which plan they choose, CarWoo will facilitate quotes from two to five nearby dealerships. Buyers are free to negotiate the final price, but rather sitting in some cubicle while the saleman makes repeated trips to “talk to the manager,” it all happens anonymously online. The process is transparent, and both the buyer and the dealers involved see all of the offers that come in.

Think of it as eBay in reverse.

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SpaceShipTwo First Glide Flight Details From The Pilot

After Sunday’s first glide flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo, one of the first thoughts going through the head of test pilot Peter Siebold after coming to a stop on the runway was that it all went by too quickly. He and co-pilot Mike Alsbury had been released from the mother ship, Eve, just 13 minutes earlier at 45,000 feet.

The flight was an overwhelming success with the airplane out performing many of the pre-flight expectations. And with the hard work of a first flight behind him, Siebold wanted to make the flight again for the pure joy of flying an airplane he and the team at Scaled have spent the past several years developing.

“After we landed, I looked over to Mike and said, ‘can we do that again?’”

Unfortunately with no motor, Siebold, Alsbury and SpaceShipTwo were stuck in the middle of runway 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port waiting for a tow back to the hangar. The flight was the second time Siebold had piloted the first flight of a new aircraft design in the past two years. In December of 2008 he piloted SpaceShipTwo’s mother ship, Eve, on its maiden flight.

The glide flight of SpaceShipTwo also marks the second time in less than a decade the team at Scaled Composites have developed and flown a privately funded vehicle designed for suborbital space flight. And in preparation for Sunday’s flight, much of the experience gained from developing and flying SpaceShipOne was put into use.

Right off the start Siebold says the experience paid off and they were able to get straight to work.

“We released at 45,000 feet, it was very clean release, much less negative g [force] than we had anticipated, a very comfortable release” he says of being dropped from the mother ship. “We trimmed the airplane and the first maneuver we performed was an approach to stall.”

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Red Bull Won’t Be Skydiving From Space

Red Bull has pulled the plug on its plan to have daredevil Felix Baumgartner skydive from the edge of space, because it is being sued by a California promoter who says Red Bull stole his idea.

Baumgartner planned to ride a balloon called Stratos to an altitude of 120,000 feet and step into the void, breaking the record Air Force Col. Joe Kittinger set in 1960 when he jumped from 102,800 feet. Red Bull claimed the jump was a scientific pursuit to study the effects of a supersonic fall on the human body, but this being Red Bull you know publicity was a big part of it.

Promoter Daniel Hogan claims he pitched the idea to Red Bull in 2004 and provided a detailed plan, only to have Red Bull tell him, “Thanks, but no” about a year later. He sued in April, claiming Red Bull used his proposal as the basis for the Red Bull Stratos jump. The suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims the stunt would be worth $375 million to $625 million in advertising revenue, according to Courthouse News Service.

Red Bull insists it has done nothing wrong but is stopping the program.

“Despite the fact that many other people over the past 50 years have tried to break Colonel (Ret.) Joe Kittinger’s record, and that other individuals have sought to work with Red Bull in an attempt to break his record, Mr. Hogan claims to own certain rights to the project and filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit earlier this year in a Californian court,” the company said. “Red Bull has acted appropriately in its prior dealings with Mr. Hogan, and will demonstrate this as the case progresses. Due to the lawsuit, we have decided to stop the project until this case has been resolved.”

According to Courthouse News, Hogan says he lined up Lindstrand Technologies to build the balloon and a Russian company to develop the spacesuit the jumper would wear. He also had a former NASA flight surgeon and an expert on the aerodynamics of the human body on board.

“Red Bull never acknowledged the plaintiff’s role in Red Bull Stratos,” the suit states. Hogan is seeking an injunction stopping the jump, disgorgement of any profits, and punitive damages.

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French Website Makes Euro-Carpooling A Snap

PARIS — Carpooling websites are experiencing a boom in popularity in Europe as commuters, fed up with rail strikes and as concerned about their pocketbooks as their carbon footprints, seek alternative methods of getting from Point A to Point B.

In France, the popular site Covoiturage.fr has emerged as the dominant market force, seeing its membership more than double in the last two years. The site was founded in 2004 by Frederic Mazzella, a Stanford University graduate who had been impressed by both the carpool lanes and the pioneering startup spirit of the San Francisco Bay Area. His site, initially popular primarily among students and old-school hitchhikers, has 750,000 registered members and receives 12 million page views a month, accounting for 85 percent of the French carpooling market.

“For the first four years nothing happened,” he says from the office 15 employees share with other tech startups in the quiet, residential north-west of Paris. “People characterized us as hitchhiking on the web, which is seen as dangerous, because its free and anonymous.”

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