SSC Ultimate Aero EV claims 200 mile-range, 10 minute recharging
The unique curves of a supercar tend to attract a lot of attention. But these days, some people are likely to turn away from a sleek and powerful automobile once they learn it guzzles more gasoline than a Hummer. Thankfully, those people are usually the type that can't afford them in the first place. In any case, the real spotlight getters now come with fuel saving efficient power plants. The guys from Silicon Valley kicked off a new trend with the creation of Tesla. Following in the Roadster's footsteps we first saw Ronn Motor Company announce their hydrogen supplemented 40 miles-per-gallon Scorpion HX, and now Shelby Supercars has thrown their hat into the ring. We were first teased with a few specs on an Ultimate EV last July, and now a few more details of the system have been put into words.
The Ultimate Aero EV will feature SSC's newly developed package called the All-Electric Scalable Powertrain (AESP). The system utilizes a lithium battery pack with the ability to charge via a 110-volt outlet in only 10 minutes. The pack, SSC maintains, provides a 150-200 mile range. The Ultimate Aero EV will combine this juice storage with a pair of 500 horsepower electric motors to achieve these claims. It all certainly comes off as a hard pill to swallow, especially since the current necessary to charge a large battery pack at 110-volt in 10 minutes would be massive, to say nothng of dealing with the high heat generated as a result. Perhaps though, the 200 mile range claim comes when the power output is kept at a continually scaled down value. In any case, while the claims sound fantastical, we've had our doubts about SSC before, only to be proven wrong. So here's hoping. View the full press release after the jump.
PRESS RELEASE:
SSC Announces Green Technologies Revealing Revolutionary Battery and Electric Powertrain Technology
West Richland, WA January 21, 2009: Shelby SuperCars (SSC) released the details today of the revolutionary electric vehicle technology to be unveiled in the second quarter of this year. SSC will reveal its innovative all-electric powertrain in the current Ultimate Aero, the Guinness Certified "Fastest Production Car in the World," to create the Ultimate Aero EV and will reinforce the company as a benchmark in the auto industry. But unlike other auto manufacturers, SSC's new technology will set a new standard in the electric car industry - one of 10 minute recharges, super horsepower and ranges of up to 200 miles per charge.
While other auto manufacturers focus on producing Green technology for specific cars, SSC's focus is on producing Green technologies for a wide range of applications for an even wider range of vehicles. SSC's electric powertrain package, named AESP (All-Electric Scalable Powertrain) is unique due to its scalable horsepower, light weight, compact size, quick recharge time and liquid cooling.
SSC's Nanotechnology Rechargeable Lithium Battery pack is rechargeable in only 10 minutes on a standard 110 outlet and has a 150-200 mile range on a single charge. This means that in a typical 8 hour day, the car using this technology could go 200 miles, charge for 10 minutes (the time it typically takes to fill up a tank of gas), then drive 200 more miles, charge for 10 minutes and continue on. Some other EV technologies necessitate an overnight charge creating a class of "commuter electric cars" and are not practical alternatives to gas combustion automobiles.
The AESP's main feature is its scalability. The all-electric SUV or delivery truck is now a reality in the not-so-distant future. The AESP is scalable from 200 horsepower for economy and midsize cars, to 500 horsepower for light trucks and SUVs, and up to 1200 horsepower for delivery trucks, heavy duty equipment, buses and military vehicles. The revolutionary design proves electric-powered vehicles not only match, but also provide more linear power (electric motors have 100% torque at 0 RPM) and overall performance than internal combustion vehicles.
All-electric. No gasoline.
Light weight. Just a fraction of the weight of a standard combustion
engine (<200lbs.)
Extended performance. Internal cooling systems are built into the
motors.
Compact size. 1/18 the space of a standard engine; significant increase
in cargo room.
Scalable horsepower. From 200 horsepower (one motor) to 1200 horsepower
(two motors "piggy backed").
Quick recharges. Only 10 minutes on standard 110 outlet.
The current AESP was designed to meet the manufacturing and quality requirements of major automotive manufacturers, transportation operators and the military. SSC will wholesale the AESP to mass production car companies, governments, and to public, private, and niche businesses. Costs for mass-produced units are $5K-$6K per unit for 1000 to 10,000 units (with further reduction in unit cost for increased production.)
SSC's next milestone will be the pursuit of the "World's Fastest Electric Car" with the Ultimate Aero EV later this year.
[Source: Shelby Supercars via Autobloggreen]
Get a WordPress.com Blog_opt_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg "2011 Audi A8: Live from Miami")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
meatbag 11:05AM (1/22/2009)
"a 150-200 mile range. The Ultimate Aero EV will combine this juice storage with a pair of 500 horsepower electric motors to achieve these claims. It all certainly comes off as a hard pill to swallow, especially since the current necessary to charge a large battery pack at 110-volt in 10 minutes would be massive, to say nothng of dealing with the high heat generated as a result"
yeah F you physics!....
Reply
Michael Denham 11:06AM (1/22/2009)
Haha, exactly! I wish more people would just get something done and then see what it'll do, rather than come up with amazing claims and then not be able to meet them.
garlinski 11:42AM (1/22/2009)
Ok, so like most cell phone users, i don't always charge my battery correctly. Over a period of time i cut battery life in half. What happens when Joe EV Supercar owner decides taht he wants his car in 8 mintues instead of 10 mintues everytime he charges it and basically drops his range from 200 or so miles down to 100? That would seriously suck.
meatbag 12:01PM (1/22/2009)
@ garlinski
the hypercapacitor and memory free technology they use in batteries these days nolonger has issues with charge memory. this issue is due largely to the materials that were used for storing electricity, materials like Nickle Cadmium, for reasons i dont fully understand dont like to charge properly on less than ideal conditions, including temperature and current stat of charge. modern electronics including any phone created in the past 2 years should be free of this.
chconline 12:29PM (1/22/2009)
garlinski:
It utilizes Lithium-Ion (LiON) batteries, not Nickel Cadmium (NiCd). There's no associated memory effects with the former, unlike the latter that's so common back in the days. Same goes with Ni-MH batteries.
spookthehamster 12:56PM (1/22/2009)
I should add that I do think the idea of a 10 minute charge on a standard household outlet is a little far fetched at the moment.
zamafir 12:59PM (1/22/2009)
LMAO, every time I read about the Aero I remember the chair of Bugatti's comment when asked about the Veyron loosing it's crown - something to the effect of asking if anyone had purchased one, because VAG tried to several times. Anywho, it's nice to see more vapor out of the SSC camp.
TurboPanzer 11:12AM (1/22/2009)
Snakeoil never tasted so good with a side of cheddar cheese.
Reply
Flashpoint 11:13AM (1/22/2009)
The proponents of Hydrogen liquid fueled cars are absolutely right.
Battery powered EV vehicles will NEVER work - or at least not in the next 100 years.
There is no way to make a battery, a short term charging system and have it be profitable (which is the only things companies look at when they endeavor in this type of tech).
The current required to charge a battery in minutes is ridiculous and would most likely be industrial use only. It certainly wouldn't be very safe - batteries can explode.
I say we ditch this EV bullsht and start moving towards liquid Hydrogen.
Hydrogren is the most abundant element in the universe, can be created using electricity and water and best of all, it can be integrated into the infrastructure just like gasoline - and is by the way, much safer than gasoline.
Reply
TurboPanzer 11:21AM (1/22/2009)
What's the flashpoint of Hydrogen?
(See what I did there?) :D
spdracerut 11:22AM (1/22/2009)
Hmm.... 110 volts... 10 min.... and how many kilowatt hours? Maybe if you had 100 outlets from 20 different houses. Even then, I'd think the battery back would get mighty toasty absorbing that much power.
About hydrogren. While it may be the most abundent element on earth, it's extremely difficult to store seeing how it's about the smallest molecule in existance. The amount of energy required to liquify hydrogen is ENORMOUS. Not to mention, you have store it at extremely cold temperatures. Heck, it's bad enough as it is just in compressed gaseous form. And with liquid hydrogen, you have the issue of burnoff.
I seem to recall the stat that in the transportation of liquid hydrogen from Louisana to Florida for the space shuttle, half of it has burned off by the time it actually makes it into the fuel tanks for the shuttle.
Brad 2:57PM (1/23/2009)
"and can be created using electricity and water"
Yes, at about $500/kg. And you know where that electricity usually comes from? Coal.
Hydrogen cannot be cost-effectively stored, released, or distributed. Liquefying it is extremely expensive and impractical for large-scale distribution.
Matt 11:16AM (1/22/2009)
A standard 110V (15A) outlet can provide a maximum of about 1600W (1.6kW). For an EV to have a 200 mile range, you need a battery pack with a capacity of about 50kWh. Let's do some math: 50kWh/1.6kWh = 31.25 hours to charge.
Reply
TurboPanzer 11:23AM (1/22/2009)
31 hours, but that's like 10 minutes in Uranus time, isn't it?
They probably forgot to mention this car is recharged that quickly in Uranus.
Judy Zik 12:33PM (1/22/2009)
LMAO@Turbopanzer
That has to be another possible comment of the year.
Corey W. 1:49PM (1/22/2009)
Thanks....I was wonder when someone was going to do the math to show this claim is ridiculous.....
Phil Perman 12:55PM (1/22/2009)
Some quick calculations here
Using your 1600w figure, in 10 minutes you can get 960kJ of power from a standard outlet.
Now according to Google calculator, 500 horsepower equals 373kw, and as this thing is going to have two 500hp motors, that equals a peak power draw of 746kw
So, 960/746 gives you how long you can run the motors for at maximum power, that that comes to a whopping 1.29 seconds.
Now unless I've made some massive mistake in my calculations, thats really quite a reason to doubt their figures
RamblinReck89 11:19AM (1/22/2009)
I feel like Salma Hayek has just walked up and requested a tangle in the sheets with me. I guess it could happen, but I'm going to be incredibly suspicious until it actually happens.
Reply
Red 11:34AM (1/22/2009)
A friend of mine once ran into Salma Hayek in the bathroom. My friend said she was even more beautiful in person than she was on screen. My friend also said, Salma was the only person in the bathroom before she came in and she said she'd never smelt anything so awful as what came from that woman's bowels.
The point, of course being, even Salma Hayek can be full of sh**.
Stephen 1:06PM (1/22/2009)
Ramblin and Red, that's the best pair of comments I've read in while!