The Limits of the Possible

We have been hinting for quite a while about an electric version of our Very Light Car, and how superb platform efficiency could solve electric car issues of range, battery weight and battery cost. We now have an electric prototype and last week spent a day at the North Carolina Center for Automotive Research (NCCAR) in Garysburg, NC, doing some initial testing. We are quite excited about the results and hope you will be too.

We emphasize that this is initial testing. These are own measurements, using our own equipment; we’ve checked them very thoroughly against each other and against our large and growing efficiency and performance database, and they are consistent and in line with our expectations. But until we’ve checked them with a certified test in an EPA approved lab, they’re provisional.

Edison2’s 4-seat electric car ran 45 laps of a 2.03 mile track in 2 hours, 6 minutes and 42 seconds. After this, our meter upstream of the charger showed it took 9.89 kWh to recharge. The empty car weighed 1031lb.

We are just listing our results and refraining from making any claims about this performance for a number of reasons. Although we ran the track in both directions, we’re not certain of the effect of the wind, or the impact of the approximately 1400 degrees of corners in each lap at NCCAR (but our calculations show the corners cost us about 13%).

But a big reason is that there are just too many unsubstantiated or misleading assertions about efficiency in today’s automotive world. The Nissan leaf advertised 367 MPG before the EPA tested the car and found a much more modest 99 MPGe. The VW diesel hybrid XL1 concept is rated at 313 MPG – but it turns out that is imperial gallons, which translates to 260 MPG US, but more importantly is calculated using NEDC (New European Driving Cycle) methodology, which does not take into account the energy from the battery; including the battery brings this down to 118 MPG (US) or 101.6 MPGe.

So soon we’ll be in the emissions lab, not to measure emissions but because that’s where the EPA measures the energy consumption reflected in MPG and MPGe on a new car’s window sticker. Labs are windless places and the tests are run in a straight line. We’ll let you know how we do.

Siemens' Solid Edge ST4 Launch

Edison2 recently had the distinct privilege of delivering the keynote address at Siemens’ Solid Edge ST4 CAD software launch event. Our Director of Research and Development Brad Jaeger spoke to an audience of over 400 engineers and scientists about our experience and success with designing in Solid Edge, and our hopes and plans going forwards.

Most people reading this know that Edison2 is a startup high efficiency car company while Siemens has over 400,000 employees across the globe, making them nearly twice the size of GM. We have written in this blog previously about the warm reception Edison2 has received at GM, particularly by their aerodynamic and wind tunnel people, and we were truly flattered by the amount of goodwill we received last week from Siemens Solid Edge. Small company and very large company: what is the key to such a relationship?

In our view, just like any good relationship, it’s based on respect for each other’s strengths. Edison2 cannot pretend to have the might or depth of resources of Siemens or GM but our scale means we are naturally lighter on our feet. Combined, we’re like Muhammad Ali: we float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

The path to turning Edison2 from a competition team into a technology company has been interesting and enlightening. To get our ideas and methods into the marketplace will take powerful friends. GM and Siemens have stepped up and helped us, as are others we cannot yet name.

It’s our experience that the people of large corporations are smart, hard working and want to do the right thing just as much as we do. That’s why they’re helping us and that’s why we’re doing our best to work with them. It’s no use just wishing for change, you have to work for it and you have to get the resources in place to make it happen.

Edison2 has a lot of work to do to move our proof-of-concept prototypes towards production. Solid Edge ST3 has been a great tool for us and ST4 is an even better one. With friends like Siemens – and GM – our path is smoother and our journey is faster.

The Charge Time Metric

Maybe there is room for another way of comparing electric cars.

We liked the format of the X-Prize competition because competitions are inherently fair: cars ran in the same conditions and energy consumption was measured by a clear metric, MPGe, so there was no cherry-picking numbers or conditions. For example, the efficiency events were run on a closed track without altitude gain or loss, and the energy used was very carefully measured by competent and impartial judges. Under MPGe the energy consumed by vehicles with diesel, ethanol, electric or hybrid drives is referenced to the energy contained in a gallon of gasoline.

But the problem with MPGe is that you have to explain it all the time. For all the X Prize Foundation’s efforts, and the EPA’s, and the Department of Energy’s (they all use and promote the MPGe metric) it’s just not that easy to understand.

But the other day Edison2’s engineering staff were asked a sensible question about our new electric model: how long does it take to charge? Our short answer was, “quickly enough to be acceptable and viable for most people” and, as you would expect, there was a longer answer as well. Real-life charging time depends on how far you go and how fast you go. Of course that’s true of all cars but it’s energy not spent on pushing a heavy car with ordinary aerodynamics that really counts. So, as we like to do, we ran the numbers.

Some of our early blog posts explained our coastdown figures, which are derived using a recognized SAE standard and measure total resistance to motion caused by aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance and mechanical losses. The VLC’s coastdown numbers are the best ever for a 4-seat car and therefore our energy consumption, regardless of energy source, is also the lowest ever.

That’s a bold statement but the problem lies in getting its significance out in an easy-to-understand way. How about how long to recharge after driving a certain distance and speed?

Our performance projections for our electric VLC model take into account a little higher rolling resistance than the X-Prize competition cars (because the batteries make it heavier) and allow for 84% total efficiency through the charger, batteries and electric motor, a figure we think is realistic. On that basis, the electric VLC will take slightly under 4 hours 30 minutes to recharge from a standard 110 Volt 15 Amp socket after a 100 mile run at 70 mph.

To put that in perspective, neither the Nissan Leaf nor the Chevy Volt can actually go 100 miles at 70 mph before their batteries go flat. In fact, the EPA rates the Leaf at a 73 mile range and Nissan concedes it takes 20 hours to recharge from a 110 V socket. Also according to the EPA, the Chevy Volt will go 35 miles on its battery and Chevy says it will then take 10 hours to recharge.

So, 100 miles for 4 ½ hours of charging, 73 miles for 20 hours or 35 miles for 10 hours. You make the call.

A Few Questions

When can I buy a Very Light Car? This a question we are asked just about every day. We love everyone’s enthusiasm, but the answer is we simply don’t know. We are very hard at work on the next generation VLC, one that is roomier, friendlier, more stylish and with proven safety.  Three years? Maybe. But we consider ourselves to be “car first”: get the design and performance right and the rest will follow.

But one thing we are clear on: we are not going into the car manufacturing business. We know that we are experienced and competent at design, engineering, building and testing. But we have no experience whatsoever in manufacturing tens of thousands or even more of something, not to mention marketing and distributing. We will partner with or license our ideas to others with the experience we lack to bring the VLC to market.

How much will it cost?  We don’t know the answer to this one, either, but we know it will be affordable. It must be affordable: we cannot solve the problems of oil addiction or CO₂ emissions with $40,000 or $50,000 cars. Design simplicity, mainstream materials and low-mass mean this will be a less than $20 thousand car…maybe significantly less.

Is there interest from large OEM’s?  Yes, lots.  But for reasons deeply embedded in their methods it is difficult for OEM's to quickly adopt our technology.  It is not “plug and play” with current legacy based vehicles. A new car from Ford or GM or Volkswagon reflects millions of dollars invested in things like suspensions, brakes, and drive-trains. Our car is a ground-up design – it is so light that it no longer requires a heavy suspension, or brakes, or a powerful engine, and in fact it uses no parts at all that come from other cars. Our approach just does not fit neatly into current business models.  Because we are "favored by physics" we feel it is certain at least some of our ideas will find their way into future cars.

How about a kit? We haven’t ruled out the idea of a kit as a learning vehicle, which would be an affordable, quick way to see some VLCs on the road. It may depend on how many people would be interested in a kit, so if you are, let us know!

Outside the Comfort Zone

If there’s a way to measure the reach of Edison2’s message, the number and quality of our invitations might be it. In growing numbers people want to hear about what we have done and where we are going, and see the Very Light Car for themselves.

Colleges, high schools, technology councils, auto shows, museums, Rotary clubs: the list is long, varied, and we think impressive. Conferences of all types: energy, automotive, environmental, engineering. Presentations to groups ranging from honors classes at Charlottesville High School to the School of Engineering at Vanderbilt to the National Academy of Engineering to an upcoming panel at the Commonwealth Club of California.

This week we visit NASA’s Langley Research Center, the Virginia Air and Space Museum, and Washington and Lee University.

This will be the third time we have spoken at a NASA event; in October we were invited to the Aviation Unleashed conference, and in March to the Goddard Space Flight Center (not to mention we were featured in an award-winning NASA 360 video last fall). It is an honor to see the genuine interest of NASA experts and we greatly appreciate this opportunity.

In fact we very much enjoy all of our engagements. Our message – that the future of transportation lies in the fundamental principles of light weight and low aerodynamic drag – may have appeal in part because it challenges many people’s comfort zone. We don’t rely on magic batteries or bleeding edge materials and we absolutely do not rely on fuzzy energy accounting. Edison2 has built a simple car, for 4 passengers and their luggage, that happens to be the most efficient the world has ever seen. It looks different because to get this type of efficiency, it has to.

Our website now has an events page, with a front-page link. We hope you can come hear us sometime, and maybe see the VLC for yourself.