Fairborn commencement
Badin graduation
Division I regional track finals
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Today is the 38th annual celebration of the planet we call home, and a day to step back and think about things we can do to preserve and restore our natural resources…
So that’s the official line on Earth Day, but I want to know: what do YOU think about Earth Day?
Is it a time to reflect on accomplishments?
A time to call for more action?
Or something in-between?
Send a post, let us know, then go outside and do something good for the planet.
Home > Blogs > Living Green > Archives > 2008 > May > 26 > Entry
The next big thing?
Sorry for the delay in posting today’s much-referred-to entry. Honestly, though; given a day off and pretty decent weather, how many of us spent the better part of Memorial Day nowhere near a computer, playing in the great outdoors?
Anyway, I had an exciting opportunity to visit Advanced Mechanical Products, a Blue Ash based company that is betting it has the right combination of business mojo and technical know-how to fill the Cinci area’s streets with electric cars.
From what I saw, I think they’ve got some things going for them.
Kuntz didn’t reveal a lot of the finer details of the project, citing pending patents (makes sense; AMP deserves to make a buck off its innovations, after all), but what I could uncover gave me the sense he’s on to a marketable plan. The 300 cars in the first production run will be stripped of their internal combustion components and fitted with twin motors on a direct, geared drive to the rear wheels. Lithium iron phosphate batteries (think light weight, without lithium polymer’s fire risk) keep the projected weight around that of the petrol version, and a proprietary-designed control unit allows plug-and-play compatibility with the car’s lights, wipers, etc.
Find a converted car that can do that, hit 90 mph and cover 150 miles on a charge, and you’ve got something that looks practical for most people’s daily driving.
Kuntz’s business structure is probably the biggest news for those of us in the Tristate; all of the initial cars will be sold to customers within 200 miles of the Cincinnati area. This, combined with a built-in Blackberry powered data uplink should give AMP Motorworks performance data on a big-three automaker scale. Once the cars are out there, the company may develop an SUV-based conversion, or may pursue other opportunities to get electric cars out to a broader market.
The initial price of the car, plus conversion, is $50,000. Not cheap by any standard, but look at it this way: a Tesla Roadster costs over $100,000. If you’re in the market for something to stand out from the Porsches and Mercedes at the country club, this could just be the ticket.
I like electric cars. I think the Saturn Sky is a nifty looking set of wheels. The way AMP Motorworks is going about its business may not put an electric car in every garage by the end of the year, but I think it’s a noteworthy step in that general direction. So what do you think?
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