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THURSDAY 23 APRIL, 2009 |

Another Australian Electric Car - the evME

by Energy Matters

evME electric car
We recently reported on what was termed by the Australian Government as the first all-electric car certified to run on Australian roads - the Mitsubishi- made iMiEV; but it's not the only electric car available in Australia that could also be recharged by solar power.

The evMe fully electric car is designed and assembled in Australia by Armidale based Energetique. Components for the car come from a variety of sources all over the world - for example, the vehicle uses the body of the Mazda 2.

According to the company, the evMe has shown that after 5000km of driving in both city and highway conditions, a normal range is in the order of 160-200km depending on factors such as driving style and terrain.

Where a standard petrol motor will convert less than 30% of the car’s fuel into useful work, evMe boasts efficiencies of between 85% and 96%. evMe uses Lithium polymer (LiPO) battery technology that provides a service life exceeding 10 years based on usage in a normal commuting averaging 40 kilometres per day.

The evME has a maximum speed of 130kmh and can accelerated from 0-100 in 10 seconds in performance mode and electricity costs are only two cents per kilometre. Like the USA's eBox; the evME also has grid connect features, enabling it to supply electricity back into the grid using a V2G (Vehicle 2 Grid) system.

The car plugs into a standard domestic electrical socket and requires no additional wiring or specialised equipment for basic charging. A full 200 kilometre charge from a 10 amp supply will take around 15 hours, but based on average commute use could be topped up daily in 3 hours.

One of the challenges of electric cars is the source of the energy for recharging. In Australia, much of our electricity is generated by the emissions intensive burning of coal. The company states the evME can easily integrate with residential solar power installations and can operate entirely on renewable energy; making it truly a zero emissions car.

Another interesting feature is the seamless software upgrades and real-time diagnostics across 2G/3G Network; so diagnostics can be undertaken remotely without the need to return the vehicle to a repair garage.

The five seat evME complies with ADR standards and is priced at $70,000. Unlike other electric vehicles announced for use in Australia, the evMe is actually available for purchase now.