3:45 pm - 5:15 pm

Chelsea Sexton:  Reinventing the Wheel:  The Technical Details! Upham Hall:  Room 140

The first modern generation of electric automobiles, produced for lease only in California from 1997 through 2001 in response to the Zero-emission Vehicle mandate of the California Air Resources Board, were extremely varied in technology used and in load-carrying capacity. Most of these vehicles worked very successfully for the small number of customers who were able to lease them. When these vehicles were withdrawn from the marketplace, consumers lobbied continuously to bring them back to the marketplace. Manufacturers listened, and now Nissan's fully electric LEAF and GM/Chevrolet's range-extended electric VOLT are selling faster than they can be manufactured, with many other plug-in vehicles on the way.

This lecture will discuss both the earlier generation and the coming generation of electric vehicles from a more technical standpoint. I've driven most of the older generation of vehicles and at least a half dozen of the new generation of plug-in electric and plug-in hybrid gas-electric vehicles, so I will discuss these new vehicles in light of how they differ from the older ones. From a propulsion standpoint, it is ironic this new generation differs little from the previous generation. I will discuss why that is both true and very interesting. However, there are also noticeable differences between these generations that potential buyers of these new vehicles should find very compelling.

The lecture will conclude with an extended question-and-answer session to allow audience members to ask about the previous generation of electric cars as well as the currently marketed Nissan LEAF and GM/Chevrolet VOLT.