ZENN Motor Company Details Plans for Highway Capable ZENN Powered by EEStor!

[DaveinOlyWA]

250 mile range, top speed of 80 mph... well if it aint about time!!

ZENN Motor Company Details Plans for Highway Capable ZENN Powered by EEStor!

[daniel]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the present stage of development of EEStor's project is that they have succeeded in refining to the necessary purity the material they plan to use as the dielectric in their super-capacitor.

They have not actually demonstrated a super-capacitor. It's all well and good for Zenn to announce that they plan to build an 80-mph 250-mile car around EEEStor's super-capacitor, but you might want to postpone your celebration until EEEStor actually manages to fabricate a capacitor and demonstrate that the touted dielectric actually works. Then they still have to mass-produce them at a reasonable cost. And the fast-charging will require a high-amperage, high-voltage charger which at today's prices is likely to cost around $100,000 and require heavier transmission lines than exist in residential neighborhoods today.

The new Zenn car is probably about ten years behind the Volt in terms of realistic development schedule.

[DaveinOlyWA]

no doubt that its an ambitious statement to make and only time will tell if Zenn learned their business model from gm or someone else.

i am trying to get their price range. for $100,000 there is no doubt that anyone can do it using a variety of technologies. to do it for $25-30,000 (my price range) that would be an accomplishment.

[daniel]

My point was that EEStor is probably at least a decade away from commercializing an ultra-capacitor. Someone's going to have an affordable electric car on the road long before that. Tesla has put its Roadster on the road for $100,000. The next car available will be less. And so on. Zenn may be one of the early affordable entrants. But the EEStor announcement is meaningless.

[Tideland Prius]

Another link

ZENN is working on a new highway-capable electric car, the cityZENN - Automotive news and opinions - Auto123.com - Canadian automotive network

[DaveinOlyWA]

Originally Posted by daniel

My point was that EEStor is probably at least a decade away from commercializing an ultra-capacitor. Someone's going to have an affordable electric car on the road long before that. Tesla has put its Roadster on the road for $100,000. The next car available will be less. And so on. Zenn may be one of the early affordable entrants. But the EEStor announcement is meaningless.

like i said, only thing i can say is

tick tick tick tick

you say 10 years, obviously others think different. we shall see.

[daniel]

Originally Posted by DaveinOlyWA

like i said, only thing i can say is

tick tick tick tick

you say 10 years, obviously others think different. we shall see.

And I sincerely hope I'm wrong about the time frame. A commercially-viable ultra capacitor would radically change the entire automotive landscape for the better. But I'm not going to let the prospect of an ultracapacitor "some day" prevent me from driving on batteries today. (And you obviously agree with me, since you, too, are driving on batteries. )

[DaveinOlyWA]

true true, but i dont see the capacitor as the leap in technology, its the charging mechanism thats the issue for me. making it safe enough for the masses is what is holding it up now imm.

full charge in 5 mins? enough charge to drive over 200 miles?

how will that be accomplished and at the same time be idiot proof? (we all know if it aint idiot-proof, people will die, sue, and once again the service will cost 2 to 3 times as much as it needs to in order to afford the legal cost of doing business)

inductive current of that magnitude would require very specialized charging to where home charging would be out of the question. then again, some sort of dual rate charging system might be in order...but who knows?

[daniel]

Five-minute charging is an inherent potential of capacitors. It will require chargers that do not yet exist, so it will not be a real feature for some time yet. For the near future, the car will charge in several hours at home using 110 or 220 volts, and 20 or 30 amp circuits. Actual home charging will be limited to about 6 kilowatts on a dryer circuit, or 2 kilowatts on a "regular" circuit. (Or about 3 kilowatts if you run 110 volts off a 30-amp circuit, as I do for my Xebra.)

The important thing about fast charging is not for home use or near-term use. It's the long-term potential for a new infrastructure of fast charging stations on the highway. That will require a huge investment, but will enable long-distance electric driving. The ultra capacitor, if it becomes a reality, will make fast charging technologically possible, once the decision to make the investment is made.

Safety in this context is not a problem. Providing the systems are regularly inspected, you can design a plug that does not become live until it's fastened in place and no high-voltage connectors are exposed. Will there be accidents? Yes. Are there accidents with gasoline? Yes.

A bigger safety issue than the charging system is the capacitor itself. Capacitors can discharge explosively if there is a short or a breakdown of the dielectric. Careful measures will have to be taken. And we'll accept the risk, just as we accept the risk of driving a gasoline bomb.

Nobody needs a fast charger at home. As you point out, the wattage involved would be very dangerous. But what's more important in the home than fast charging is off-peak timing, and that issue is trivial and can be built into the charger for maybe five cents worth of computing power and a few bucks for the relay.

[DaveinOlyWA]

ok... i know, its old news but an email received today;;;

Dear ZENN Enthusiast,

On Friday, May 30, ZENN Motor Company announced that it had raised just over $15 Million dollars in new share capital. This is fantastic news and I am exceptionally pleased as this new capital allows ZMC to accelerate its product development and market expansion plans. It is a strong testament to the Company’s vision and direction that the investment community was so readily supportive of ZMC, even in these challenging financial markets. Essentially, we are moving full steam ahead on all the initiatives announced at our Annual General Meeting at the end of March, including the highway capable cityZENN and ZENNergy Drive Systems powered by EEStor for both new and used vehicles.

On that note, many of you have sent inquiries asking for additional information on the cityZENN as well as to be added to a waiting list. Beyond the specifications detailed below, we cannot release specific details on the interior and exterior design of the cityZENN or its final retail price. We have also not established a customer waiting list for the cityZENN. It seemed premature to us to develop a customer waiting list before we had announced more detailed specifications on the car, pricing and initial market availability.

Stay tuned for more information on the cityZENN.

cityZENN Specifications
The cityZENN is planned to be a fully certified, highway capable vehicle with a top speed of 125 KPH/ 80 MPH and a range of 400 kilometres/250 miles. Powered by EEStor, the cityZENN will be rechargeable in less than 5 minutes, feature operating costs 1/10th of a typical internal combustion engine vehicle and be 100% emission-free! The Zero-Emission, No-Noise cityZENN will be designed to meet the transportation requirements of a large percentage of drivers worldwide.

<img style="width: 157px; height: 63px;" height="63" width="157">


Ian Clifford
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
ZENN Motor Company



well, the saga continues... once again, stats...(longer range than reported previously) but still no price, estimate of launch date, etc... but what the heck, gm has been "doing" the volt for much longer...