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Transport Canada Approves ZENN Electric Car
5 November 2007
CBC News. Transport Canada has granted the National Safety Mark, a legal label that indicates the vehicle meets Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, to the ZENN electric car from ZENN Motor Company. This allows the company to produce its all-electric vehicle for the Canadian market.
Company founder Ian Clifford had accused the federal government of blocking him from selling the cars in Canada, saying officials from Transport Canada gave him different responses every time he approached them.
The car is considered a low-speed urban vehicle with a regulated maximum speed of 40 km/h. It’s designed for areas where speed limits are 50 km/h or less, such as city core or neighbourhood-type driving, said Clifford.
Transport Canada says it will be up to the individual provinces and territories to legislate where the vehicle can be driven.
Earlier this year, ZENN Motor Company, has made a US$2.5 million equity investment in Austin-based energy storage developer, EEStor. EEStor is developing a new high-power-density ceramic ultracapacitor (the Energy Storage Unit—EESU). EEstor has publicly claimed a permittivity figure—a measurement of the ability of a material to store an electric charge—of 18,500 or more. The required permittivity levels are specified in detail in the existing Technology Agreement between ZENN Motor Company and EEStor. (Earlier post.)
The negotiated investment terms also grant ZENN an additional investment option of up to US $5 million on the same terms, following EEStor’s successful completion of its next major milestone: permittivity testing.
November 5, 2007 in Brief | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)
Comments
Posted by: lensovet | November 05, 2007 at 10:32 AM
Haven't heard much from EEStor lately - sure hope they're remaining on track for those permittivity numbers.
Posted by: gr | November 05, 2007 at 12:22 PM
It wasn't long ago that EEStor announced that they were delayed by 6 months. If nothing shows up in another 5 months then we'll have to assume they've hit a brick wall. That would leave the MIT ultracap as the cap to watch.
Posted by: Neil | November 05, 2007 at 03:33 PM
Neil
Do you think that the two technologies could be combined to come up with a better ultra-super capacitor within 2 or 3 years?
Would better electrodes (MIT) + better dielectrics (EEStor) = better capacitors???
Posted by: Harvey D | November 06, 2007 at 09:03 AM
This announcement is good news but, so far, their web site only lists US dealers.
One question from the Great White North: do electric cars have heating, and at what cost? Is this a case of heat or run?
Posted by: manny | November 06, 2007 at 12:51 PM
manny;
How much heat (W/hr) is required to maintain an internal temperature of about 16C to 18C in a 100 cu. ft. car cabin with outside temperature down to -30C while carrying two 80 Kg humans?
If the car cab in well insulation, (a design effort may be required there) the heat required should not be more than a continuous 500 W/hr. On a four hour drive this would be about 2 Kw/hr or 10% of a 20 Kw/hr battery. Without additional insulation, the power required may be as high as 1.0 Kw/hr average.
Posted by: Harvey D | November 06, 2007 at 02:20 PM
until it crashes
http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/lsv.htm
Posted by: red | December 08, 2008 at 01:20 PM
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this is good news, but the cars – which I've seen around Berkeley a number of times – are just way too small and expensive given their poor range (they use lead-acid batteries).