Yamaha Unveils Sport Ride Concept In Tokyo.

Yamaha has a long and distinguished career in the automotive world. It was an integral part of the Toyota 2000 GT that starred in the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice in 1967. Its prowess at building high revving motors brought it into contact with Ford in the 80’s, when it was tapped to assemble the high performance V-6 engine that first appeared in the Taurus SHO. It has also been involved with Gordon Murray in the Motiv city car that appeared at the Tokyo motor show 2 years ago.

The Motiv used Murray’s proprietary iStream carbon fiber construction, which bonds two thin carbon fiber layers around a honeycomb core. Murray says the result is a strong, lightweight chassis that can be manufactured for far less than the cost of a traditional carbon fiber shell. According to Car And Driver, the Gordon Murray Design iStream is “the first affordable high-volume carbon-fiber chassis structure, bringing Formula 1 materials and technology within reach of the everyday motorist.”

Yamaha says the two seater Sports Ride Concept sports car is “designed to express a driver-machine relationship close in feeling to the world of motorcycle riding.” Gizmag say the concept is approximately the size of a Mazda Miata but weighs a scant 1,653 pounds. That’s about 900 pounds less that Mazda’s popular roadster. Powered by any number of zippy Yahama motorcycle engines, the Sports Ride Concept could offer scintillating handling designed to excite the passions of any driver who is not a ham fisted amateur.

Yamaha has declined to give any details about what engine it has in mind for the car or whether it even intends to produce it. Often, auto shows are used to gauge reaction from the public and members of the press before proceeding to examine whether a business case can be made for putting a car into production. Concept cars are also used to showcase a company’s talents. Sometimes there is more money to be made being a specialty supply house than in building an entire car yourself.

In this case, enthusiasts are hoping this car gets built no matter who takes credit for manufacturing it. To paraphrase a line from a famous movie, “If you build it, they will come!”

Gordon Murray Design iStream carbon fiber chassis via Gizmag.

2015 Yamaha Electric Car Taking Shape

As a legendary race engineer and the designer of the iconic McLaren F1 super car, Gordon Murray shouldn’t need an introduction. When he set out to design the most efficient EV in the world back in 2011, the world met the T.27 city car.It was a concept that was later bought by Yamaha, who re-packaged the T.27 as the MOTIV.e and, now, is set to begin full-scale production of Murray’s electric vision.

The new-for 2015 MOTIV.e Yamaha electric car will be among the first 4-wheeled vehicles to carry the Yamaha badge, though the company has a long history of building automotive engines for Ford, Volvo, and others. It’s a sharp-looking little city car, with size and style on-par with Aston Martin’s Cygnet. Late last year, the company released photos that showed what their new Yamaha electric car would look like …

… and what kind of performance the car will deliver when it launches …

… but, until now, we didn’t know any specifics regarding the car’s actual power train.

It’s been announced that EV specialists Zytek will supply the new Yamaha electric car with a 25 kW motor that spins to 15,000 rpm, which will be equipped with advanced cooling systems to keep everything operating at optimal temperatures. The Zytek-sourced power unit has been designed to be inexpensive, lightweight and compact- and the end result shows just how good those guys are. The motor weighs less than 30 lbs., with the car’s gearbox and power inverter weighing about 40 additional lbs., combined.

You can get a better look at the new Zytek motor, below- but, before you do, check this out:

That- you eagle-eyed reader, you- is what a full line-up of electric Yamaha cars might (will?) look like, if the MOTIV.e does well enough to warrant Yamaha taking further steps to compete with Tesla, Fisker, and its cross-town rivals at Honda in the automotive segment. Notice how there’s a logical progression at work, here, just like Yamaha mapped out when they introduced their electric motorcycle line-up.

Here’s hoping Yamaha cars become a thing, then. While you wait, here’s that Zytek engine I promised you. Enjoy!

Source | More photos: Yamaha, via Gizmag.

New Electric School Bus Claims $11,000 In Annual Savings

School buses have long been a huge financial burden on local governments, with huge initial costs, as well as ongoing maintenance and fueling expenses. Electric school buses could drastically cut into those maintenance and fuel costs however, with Trans Tech introducing a 32-passenger bus that it claims can save school districts up to $11,000 a year.

Trans Tech and Motiv Power Systems paired on a Ford E450-based 32-passenger (or 24 passenger and one wheelchair) short bus called the SST-e, powered by either four or five battery packs delivering between 80 and 100 miles of driving per day. With an average fuel economy of just 7 mpg, these short buses are still mega gas hogs, consuming as much as 16 gallons of fuel to go the same 100 miles. A fast-charging system can deliver a 50% charge in as little as an hour, though a fuel charge takes 8 hours to preserve battery life.

With fuel prices as outrageous as they are, it can cost $11,000 to keep just one of these buses running year round. But the SST-e costs literally pennies on the dollar to fill in comparison, and its maintenance costs are almost non-existent. While the initial cost is surely higher, many of these buses easily see a decade worth of service or more. That could amount to more than $100,000 in savings over the lifetime of just a single electric bus.

Now multiply that by a large municipal fleet, and you’re talking about some mega savings, more than justifying the initial cost. While trial runs are ongoing in Foster City, California, it will take a much larger city (think L.A. or New York) to really get these buses on the national radar. While L.A. is looking to China’s BYD to provide electric public transit buses, the electric school bus field is still wide open.

Who is going to corner that lucrative market first?

 Source: CleanTechnica

Dow Kokam Powers Medium-Duty PHEV/EV Commercial Vehicles for Fleet Operations

Dow Kokam Providing Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Solutions to Motiv Power & ZeroTruck

Dow Kokam, a leading large-format battery system producer, announced today in advance of the Work Truck Show that it has signed two new agreements to provide advanced lithium-ion battery solutions to power medium-duty plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) and fully-electric (EV) trucks designated for fleet operations. Dow Kokam’s new projects with Motiv Power Systems and ZeroTruck will provide new electric vehicle options for flexible medium-duty truck designs that reduce carbon emissions and operating costs for fleet owners.

“Beyond their environmental benefits, PHEV and EV vehicles offer significant advantages to commercial vehicle and fleet operators in terms of cost, mission fulfillment, reliability and longevity. Dow Kokam’s high-performance advanced battery technology enables vehicle converters to unlock these advantages for fleet owners,” said Chuck Reardon, vice president of Dow Kokam. “We are excited by the opportunities that Motiv and ZeroTruck are providing to fleet owners to update their fleets and realize the long-term benefits of electrification.”

Dow Kokam’s large format batteries bring the reliability of more than 10 years of performance in demanding applications with system integration capabilities that have been proven in more than 1 million kilometers of rigorous, on-the-road testing. Dow Kokam technology has been adopted as the primary source of energy for high performance equipment in industries ranging from transportation, marine, aerospace, defense and high-end industrial products.

Dow Kokam’s advanced thermal management, proven reliability and flexible design are all key advantages for integration in commercial vehicles, enabling the company to provide solutions for the range of commercial operations included in the new agreements.

“Dow Kokam’s battery technology is a ready answer to fleet and commercial vehicle needs while also providing a very compelling total cost of ownership- scenario to owners,” said Reardon. “These flexible, high performance PHEV and EV vehicles represent a whole new range of opportunities for commercial vehicle owner and operators to revolutionize their fleets and operations.”

Motiv Power Systems, an electric drive power control system provider, with funding from the California Energy Commission, is using Dow Kokam’s advanced battery system to convert a Class 4, Ford E-450 diesel chassis to a completely electric system for a passenger shuttle bus. The fully-electric, 20-passenger shuttle bus has a 100 mile range, and will operate daily in the San Francisco region.

Over eight years, the adaptation of the fully electric bus is expected to save 40,000 gallons of diesel fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 435 tons.

ZeroTruck, a developer and producer of commercial electric trucks, is using Dow Kokam’s large-format lithium-ion battery systems to power fully-electric, Class 3-6 work vehicles based on the Isuzu N series chassis - a flexible medium duty truck platform. The ZeroTruck is available in Class 3-6 chassis and can operate at full highway speeds, with a 70 mile range in city driving and superior torque compared to conventional vehicles.

The versatile Isuzu N series chassis design enables ZeroTruck to be modified for utility, dry freight, stake bed, tow, sweeper, and refuse body type applications.

For more information about these agreements, and Dow Kokam’s proven advanced lithium-ion battery solutions, please visit www.dowkokam.com.

About Motiv Power Systems
Motiv is revolutionizing the way electric drive fleet vehicles will be built. Rather than requiring custom designed powertrain solutions for every new EV design, Motiv has developed a common platform that allows disparate components, developed by multiple vendors, to interoperate. Instead of trying to fit the current EV design paradigm into the truck and bus market, Motiv’s technology leverages the natural characteristics of this market, which relies on sourcing standard “off the shelf” components, to promote widespread EV adoption.

About ZeroTruck
ZeroTruck, newly headquartered in Allentown, PA, is a developer and integrator of commercial electric trucks for public and private fleet operators. It is the only electric manufacturer that uses a U.S. built motor and battery pack. The ZeroTruck electric drive integration system (EDIS) converts class (3-5) trucks in a wide a variety of body configurations to run on electric power with a highway speed of 65 mph and up to 100 miles per battery charge using Dow Kokam’s advanced lithium battery technology.

About Dow Kokam
Dow Kokam brings technologically advanced and economically viable battery solutions to the transportation, defense, industrial and medical industries. Uniting Dow, Kokam America and Dassault SVE creates the first battery and energy management systems manufacturer to combine viable, scalable large-format battery technology with the market franchise, manufacturing expertise and market knowledge necessary to become the clear partner of choice across industries.

Dow Kokam was established in 2009 to develop and manufacture advanced energy storage technologies for the transportation and other industries. The company is owned by The Dow Chemical Company, TK Advanced Battery LLC and Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault.