Engineering Evaluation and Testing Completed - Follow-On Product Identified
Published: Thu, 29 Jun 2006, 15:32:00 GMT Edited by Christopher L. Simmons
SOLANA BEACH, CA - June 29 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Armor Electric Inc. (OTC BB: ARME) is pleased to announce that the engineering evaluation and testing phase of the electric propulsion system for the 'Mexico City Three Wheel Taxi Cab' project has been successfully completed. The Mexico City management group plans to conduct the final visual inspection, design buyoff, and final testing during the first week of July at the Las Vegas design and testing facility. During this meeting, aggressive manufacturing ramping capabilities and the manufacturing production schedule for this project will be discussed and determined.
Recently, the management of the Mexico Taxi Cab company has identified the next phase of follow-on product design and has requested that the Strategic Partnership begin the immediate design of a prototype four wheel electric vehicle. This new design would be used in the greater suburban areas of Mexico City. The four wheeled version would be designed with larger capacity and expanded performance.
In order to expedite the design phase of the new four wheel electric vehicle project, Armor's Strategic Partnership will use an adapted design of their existing electric powered NEV (Neighborhood Electric Vehicle). This existing unit has completed the engineering design review and testing phases and should be a good match for the four wheel electric taxi cab vehicle required for the Mexico City project.
Armor is encouraged by the successful testing of the 'Three Wheel Taxi Cab' and the potential for the success of a four wheel electric taxi cab unit.
About Armor Electric, Inc.
Armor Electric, Inc. is a leader in the design, manufacture, and distribution of electric battery power drive systems for land and water vehicles.
For further information, please contact: Investor Relations, cschertzer @ armorelectric.com, www.armorelectric.com, 858.720.0354
This information may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements are based on the Company's current expectations as to future events. However, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed on the website might not occur, and actual results could differ materially from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.
NEWS SOURCE: Armor Electric, Inc.
martes, 5 de junio de 2007
11/04/2007 Les mexicains pour des Nissan électriques
Nissan travaille depuis longtemps à la traction électrique, et a promis une voiture électrique de série pour 2010. Mais les mexicains ne veulent pas attendre, ils veulent des Nissan électriques tout de suite. Ils les auront.
Tsuru ! Voilà un nom totalement inconnu en Europe, mais la voiture ne l'est pas, puisqu'on reconnait les lignes de la Nissan Sunny. Cette auto a été retirée des gammes européennes, mais elle est encore très appréciée au Mexique. C'est de plus une mexicaine, la Nissan Tsuru est produite en ce pays de longue date, et avec un tarif raisonnable, elle est devenue une auto plébiscitée par l'administration. Elle est motorisée par un moteur 1600 essence de 105 ch, a une boite 5 et est chaussée de roues de 13 pouces, c'est une auto simple et fiable, comme la Logan tente de l'être en Europe. Mais la Nissan Tsuru a un défaut, elle a un moteur à essence qui pollue. Les mexicains ont trouvé une solution pour remédier à ce problème.
L'initiative est originale tant en elle-même que dans sa réalisation, puisque les mexicains vont tout faire eux-mêmes. Il y a aujourd'hui quelques 25 000 Nissan Tsuru en usage dans les différentes administrations de Mexico City, et le plan est d'en convertir 1000 à la traction électrique. La société Electro Autos Eficaces of Mexico (EAE) a dans ce but signé un contrat pour acquérir 1000 groupes propulseurs complets auprès du spécialiste canadien Azure Dynamics (moteur, contrôleur, boite de vitesses et convertisseur), et à leur rythme (ils se donnent 18 mois), les mexicains vont convertir 1000 voitures à la traction électrique. Le fournisseur des batteries n'est pas encore connu, on ignore aussi ce qu'ils vont faire des 1000 moteurs et boites qu'ils vont récupérer, mais les mexicains agissent contre la pollution, et donnent un exemple à suivre.
Nissan travaille depuis longtemps à la traction électrique, et a promis une voiture électrique de série pour 2010. Mais les mexicains ne veulent pas attendre, ils veulent des Nissan électriques tout de suite. Ils les auront.
Tsuru ! Voilà un nom totalement inconnu en Europe, mais la voiture ne l'est pas, puisqu'on reconnait les lignes de la Nissan Sunny. Cette auto a été retirée des gammes européennes, mais elle est encore très appréciée au Mexique. C'est de plus une mexicaine, la Nissan Tsuru est produite en ce pays de longue date, et avec un tarif raisonnable, elle est devenue une auto plébiscitée par l'administration. Elle est motorisée par un moteur 1600 essence de 105 ch, a une boite 5 et est chaussée de roues de 13 pouces, c'est une auto simple et fiable, comme la Logan tente de l'être en Europe. Mais la Nissan Tsuru a un défaut, elle a un moteur à essence qui pollue. Les mexicains ont trouvé une solution pour remédier à ce problème.
L'initiative est originale tant en elle-même que dans sa réalisation, puisque les mexicains vont tout faire eux-mêmes. Il y a aujourd'hui quelques 25 000 Nissan Tsuru en usage dans les différentes administrations de Mexico City, et le plan est d'en convertir 1000 à la traction électrique. La société Electro Autos Eficaces of Mexico (EAE) a dans ce but signé un contrat pour acquérir 1000 groupes propulseurs complets auprès du spécialiste canadien Azure Dynamics (moteur, contrôleur, boite de vitesses et convertisseur), et à leur rythme (ils se donnent 18 mois), les mexicains vont convertir 1000 voitures à la traction électrique. Le fournisseur des batteries n'est pas encore connu, on ignore aussi ce qu'ils vont faire des 1000 moteurs et boites qu'ils vont récupérer, mais les mexicains agissent contre la pollution, et donnent un exemple à suivre.
“During 2006, we successfully developed strategic relationships with industry leaders such as Ford in our commercial vehicle segment, StarTrans in our shuttle bus segment and Kidron in our Low Emission Electric Power (“LEEP”) or components segment, to drive market penetration in these product areas,” said D. Campbell Deacon, Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors. “We are now seeing positive market traction resulting from these relationships. In the first quarter, we signed on twelve StarTrans distributors that will give us access to a distributor network covering approximately 70% of the targeted shuttle bus market in the U.S. and Canada. There was also a significant development subsequent to the end of the quarter as we signed a supply agreement with a value in excess of $7.0 million with Electro Autos Eficaces of Mexico for 1,000 electric vehicle systems for Mexico City’s municipal automobile fleet.”
Corporate
On April 17, 2007 the Company announced the appointment of Scott T. Harrison as Chief Executive Officer. D. Campbell Deacon, retiring Chief Executive Officer, became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Thomas N. Davidson, outgoing Chairman, will retire from the Board of Directors in June 2007. These changes were made to ensure that the Company has the appropriate skills to successfully transition from the development stage to commercial production. Mr. Harrison has extensive production and supply chain experience with both new and established products in the automotive industry.
In an effort to reduce costs as well as ease interaction with major suppliers and strategic partners, Azure will establish a new corporate head office and development center in the heartland of the North American automotive industry. The new location will be selected to ensure the Company can leverage its relationship with Ford and capitalize on the significant opportunities in the mid-sized truck market. The office in Toronto as well as the Kenilworth facility in the UK will be closed. The scope of work with Ford as well as other OEM’s makes the establishment of this new facility a compelling action at this stage of the Company’s development. In addition these practical moves are expected to provide cost savings in excess of $1.6 million annually. The cost savings are related to both fixed costs for facilities and people as well as in variable costs, such as travel.
During the quarter under review, Management continued to consider strategic proposals from potential industry partners. Although the calibre of the potential partners has been very impressive, it is Management’s assessment (supported by the Board) that the proposals to date do not adequately recognise the value of the Company. This view has been reinforced by recent new customer developments and by the heightened level of interest in the industry in general. The Company will continue to evaluate all alternatives as it progresses.
Financial Results
Revenue for the first quarter of 2007 totalled $0.2 million compared to $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2006. The revenue was lower in the first quarter of 2007 due to decreased activities in funded engineering contracts in the Boston operation as the Company is now focused on its core production programs. Net loss for the first quarter of 2007 was $6.5 million, or $(0.03) per share, compared to a loss of $4.6 million or $(0.03) per share in the first quarter of 2006. The net loss is higher in the 2007 quarter primarily due to lower margin contribution due to lower revenues and higher levels of engineering and operational activities as the development of the Ford P1 parallel hybrid vehicle and ramp-up of the G1 series production progresses.
Before contributions, the Company’s engineering, research and development (“R&D”) expenses in the quarter totalled $4.2 million (including $2.7 million in product development costs), compared to $2.7 million for the same period in 2006 (including $1.6 million in product development costs). During the quarter, the Company progressed its P1 development and continued the final engineering and production activities associated with the G1 delivery vans and shuttle bus.
As of March 31, 2007, the Company’s net cash and cash equivalents totalled $21.5 million, and working capital totalled $26.1 million, compared to cash and cash equivalents of $27.2 million, and working capital of $32.5 million, as at December 31, 2006.
Product Developments
The main developments in core product lines for the first quarter of 2007 included the following:
G1 Series (7,500 to 16,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight, “GVW”)
Purolator has completed the introduction of the 30 new hybrid delivery vans into their fleet operations in the first part of 2007; their combined fleet of Azure hybrid vehicles now totals 49;
Delivered nine hybrid cab-chassis to StarTrans where they are in-progress to produce G1 hybrid shuttle buses (the CitiBus Hybrid Senator HD or “CitiBus”).
P1 Parallel (10,000 – 19,000 lbs. GVW)
Advanced the P1 parallel hybrid vehicle through the initial concept phase, including the build and testing of alternative design prototypes. The selected concept is now undergoing detailed design work which will include building, testing and optimizing further design prototypes. Demonstration prototypes will be scheduled for customer in-service trials in mid-2007. Thereafter, a quantity of pre-production units for lead customers is anticipated to be built, commencing in late-2007 with full production commencing in 2008. It is intended, subject to formal agreement, to distribute the hybridized chassis through Ford’s distribution channels.
Other product developments
In the process of designing and building the initial prototype of the LEEP system with a refrigerated truck body supplied by Kidron. The LEEP system is expected to be in production by the second-half of 2007.
On April 9, 2007, the Company entered into a supply agreement with Electro Autos Eficaces of Mexico (“EAE”) for 1,000 electric drive systems for integration into the Nissan Tsuru sedan for use in Mexico City’s municipal fleet. The first converted vehicle was completed in April 2007 and was unveiled at the International Electric Vehicle Forum on May 8, 2007 in Mexico City.
Corporate
On April 17, 2007 the Company announced the appointment of Scott T. Harrison as Chief Executive Officer. D. Campbell Deacon, retiring Chief Executive Officer, became Chairman of the Board of Directors and Thomas N. Davidson, outgoing Chairman, will retire from the Board of Directors in June 2007. These changes were made to ensure that the Company has the appropriate skills to successfully transition from the development stage to commercial production. Mr. Harrison has extensive production and supply chain experience with both new and established products in the automotive industry.
In an effort to reduce costs as well as ease interaction with major suppliers and strategic partners, Azure will establish a new corporate head office and development center in the heartland of the North American automotive industry. The new location will be selected to ensure the Company can leverage its relationship with Ford and capitalize on the significant opportunities in the mid-sized truck market. The office in Toronto as well as the Kenilworth facility in the UK will be closed. The scope of work with Ford as well as other OEM’s makes the establishment of this new facility a compelling action at this stage of the Company’s development. In addition these practical moves are expected to provide cost savings in excess of $1.6 million annually. The cost savings are related to both fixed costs for facilities and people as well as in variable costs, such as travel.
During the quarter under review, Management continued to consider strategic proposals from potential industry partners. Although the calibre of the potential partners has been very impressive, it is Management’s assessment (supported by the Board) that the proposals to date do not adequately recognise the value of the Company. This view has been reinforced by recent new customer developments and by the heightened level of interest in the industry in general. The Company will continue to evaluate all alternatives as it progresses.
Financial Results
Revenue for the first quarter of 2007 totalled $0.2 million compared to $1.1 million in the first quarter of 2006. The revenue was lower in the first quarter of 2007 due to decreased activities in funded engineering contracts in the Boston operation as the Company is now focused on its core production programs. Net loss for the first quarter of 2007 was $6.5 million, or $(0.03) per share, compared to a loss of $4.6 million or $(0.03) per share in the first quarter of 2006. The net loss is higher in the 2007 quarter primarily due to lower margin contribution due to lower revenues and higher levels of engineering and operational activities as the development of the Ford P1 parallel hybrid vehicle and ramp-up of the G1 series production progresses.
Before contributions, the Company’s engineering, research and development (“R&D”) expenses in the quarter totalled $4.2 million (including $2.7 million in product development costs), compared to $2.7 million for the same period in 2006 (including $1.6 million in product development costs). During the quarter, the Company progressed its P1 development and continued the final engineering and production activities associated with the G1 delivery vans and shuttle bus.
As of March 31, 2007, the Company’s net cash and cash equivalents totalled $21.5 million, and working capital totalled $26.1 million, compared to cash and cash equivalents of $27.2 million, and working capital of $32.5 million, as at December 31, 2006.
Product Developments
The main developments in core product lines for the first quarter of 2007 included the following:
G1 Series (7,500 to 16,000 lbs. gross vehicle weight, “GVW”)
Purolator has completed the introduction of the 30 new hybrid delivery vans into their fleet operations in the first part of 2007; their combined fleet of Azure hybrid vehicles now totals 49;
Delivered nine hybrid cab-chassis to StarTrans where they are in-progress to produce G1 hybrid shuttle buses (the CitiBus Hybrid Senator HD or “CitiBus”).
P1 Parallel (10,000 – 19,000 lbs. GVW)
Advanced the P1 parallel hybrid vehicle through the initial concept phase, including the build and testing of alternative design prototypes. The selected concept is now undergoing detailed design work which will include building, testing and optimizing further design prototypes. Demonstration prototypes will be scheduled for customer in-service trials in mid-2007. Thereafter, a quantity of pre-production units for lead customers is anticipated to be built, commencing in late-2007 with full production commencing in 2008. It is intended, subject to formal agreement, to distribute the hybridized chassis through Ford’s distribution channels.
Other product developments
In the process of designing and building the initial prototype of the LEEP system with a refrigerated truck body supplied by Kidron. The LEEP system is expected to be in production by the second-half of 2007.
On April 9, 2007, the Company entered into a supply agreement with Electro Autos Eficaces of Mexico (“EAE”) for 1,000 electric drive systems for integration into the Nissan Tsuru sedan for use in Mexico City’s municipal fleet. The first converted vehicle was completed in April 2007 and was unveiled at the International Electric Vehicle Forum on May 8, 2007 in Mexico City.
Promueve GDF el uso de medios alternativos de transporte no contaminantes: MEC
Transcripción de las palabras del jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, durante el Foro Internacional de Eficacia Vehicular 2007, en el Hotel Sheraton Alameda
Muy buenos días, gracias por invitarnos a esta importante ceremonia. Yo quisiera compartir con ustedes algunos elementos para entender qué es lo que estamos buscando hacer.
Como todos sabemos, hay en el mundo un fenómeno muy importante que se ha denominado cambio climático, pero que quiere decir, entre otras cosas, que el planeta está en riesgo, para resumirlo, y que en nuestras manos está poder hacer un cambio importante, es decir, hay riesgos que no podemos reducir, que no podemos modificar, pero hay otros que sí podemos cambiar.
El cambio climático, lo que significa para la sobrevivencia de nuestro planeta sí está en nuestras manos enfrentarlo y reducir sus efectos. En el caso de la Ciudad de México, hemos estados estudiando el clima y también las condiciones de la atmósfera, esas son las dos preocupaciones que tenemos.
Respecto al clima, lo que está sucediendo en la ciudad es lo mismo que está ocurriendo en muchas otras ciudades y regiones del mundo, es decir, estamos observando un incremento de la temperatura; si hacemos una serie de 1900 hasta acá, nos vamos a dar cuenta de que hay variaciones muy claras en los máximos, en cuanto a temperaturas que hemos alcanzado en el Distrito Federal.
Por ejemplo en este año estamos esperando estar alrededor de 35 grados en el verano y, probablemente, suponemos que en los próximos años tendremos que prepararnos para temperaturas hacia 36 grados quizá, 36 y medio. También estamos observando alteraciones en los ciclos de lluvia, en sus pautas de concentración, entonces hay evidencias, aquí en la Ciudad de México, de cuál es el efecto que va teniendo el cambio climático.
Ahora, el otro problema es la calidad del aire que estamos respirando todo en los días en la ciudad. En el Valle de México estamos consumiendo más o menos entre 43 y 45 millones de litros de diferentes combustibles al día, o dicho de otra manera, es el 0.8 por ciento del territorio nacional de donde estamos colocando todos los días, los productos, muchos de ellos con diferentes tipos de toxinas y demás, algunos otros productos cancerígenos, todos los días estamos colocando en la atmósfera 43, 45 millones de litros.
Si nosotros no impulsamos un cambio en nuestros hábitos, en la forma en que vemos y actuamos en nuestra ciudad, entonces el fenómeno del que estoy hablando se va a seguir agudizando.
No sé si ustedes recuerden, ya hace algún tiempo, tuvimos una crisis ambiental en la ciudad, cuando nuestra gasolina tenía tetraetilo de plomo y se llegó a una crisis, empezaron a morir pajaritos, diferentes tipos de aves, entonces se tomó lo que llamamos la primera generación de medidas para responder esa crisis ambiental.
¿Cuáles fueron? Convertidor catalítico, el Hoy no Circula, cambio de combustibles, reducir la cantidad de azufre en el diesel, en fin, toda una serie de medidas, y eso ganó tiempo para la ciudad, pero no lo hemos resuelto.
Entonces, ahora tenemos que tomar la segunda generación de medidas, nada más que con una diferencia, no queremos esperarnos a la próxima crisis, tenemos que actuar antes, por eso nos parece muy relevante lo que hoy se presenta y lo que se ha estado impulsando.
Nosotros tenemos un programa que tiene que ver con varias cosas: en primer lugar, queremos usar y promover medios alternativos de transporte y por esa razón hemos impulsado ciclovías y la utilización de esas ciclovías, porque no basta con que tengamos ciclovías recreativas, está muy bien, pero eso no tiene que ver con lo que estoy hablando.
Estimamos que el total de viajes que se hacen en bicicleta en la ciudad no rebasa el 0.2 por ciento del total de todos los movimientos que tenemos. estudiamos lo que ha ocurrido en otras ciudades, y hay ciudades equivalentes a la Ciudad de México, en donde han llegado hasta 4, 5 por ciento.
Entonces, ¿qué nos proponemos alcanzar en esta administración? Ese promedio de utilización. Eso nos está obligando a reflexionar o tomar acciones sobre otras cosas ¿por qué? porque nos hemos dado cuenta de que nuestros propios empleados viven en Xochimilco, pero trabajan en Gustavo A. Madero, o viven en Iztapalapa, pero trabajan del otro lado de la ciudad, entonces son viajes muy largos, muy caros y si nosotros no hacemos algo sobre eso, pues entonces no es factible que se utilicen otras vías de comunicación y transporte.
Entonces, estamos trabajando en esa línea y estamos invitando a muchas empresas, nuestra meta es llegar a los promedios que han llegado otras ciudades, esa es una medida. Otra medida es que la ciudad impulse nuevas tecnologías, yo acabo de usar este vehículo, es un vehículo que tiene muy buena potencia, muy buen desplazamiento y salvo en zonas que, orográficamente pueden ser muy difíciles, que son las menos, son excepcionales en la ciudad, si pensamos en Cuautepec o algunas zonas de esa naturaleza, es un vehículo que perfectamente puede funcionar en toda la ciudad.
Entonces, si se tiene esa tecnología, bueno, por qué no tomamos medidas, esa es la pregunta que nos hacemos. Nosotros lo que queremos es impulsar el uso de esta tecnología y demostrar que es factible, que es posible y que es deseable, nada más que muchas veces el problema no es que no haya la tecnología, sino que tenemos hábitos y formas de ver la realidad en donde, simplemente, asumimos el costo ambiental como algo que va a pagar otra generación, pues no es cierto, lo estamos pagando desde ya. Entonces, esa es otra medida.
También los vehículos híbridos, estamos trabajando en eso, nos parece que México tiene que estar muy presente en ello y que la industria automotriz tiene que cumplir promedios de eficiencia energética mucho mejores a los que hoy tenemos, eso es lo que la ciudad quiere lograr.
Hay otras medidas que tenemos que tomar, por ejemplo, es una ciudad en donde el transporte público, en el caso de las escuelas, es decepcional, cuando debería ser la regla. Entonces, ese es otro paso que vamos a tomar otra vez, tenemos que cambiar hábitos, va a haber a quien no le va a gustar, va a decir “pero cómo, yo quiero ir en mi camioneta todos los días porque no veo a mi hija o a mi hijo a otra hora”, pero vamos a tener que cambiar los hábitos porque tenemos que cuidar, entre otras, hoy, la salud de estos niños y nuestra calidad de vida.
Otras medidas tienen que ver con el monitoreo de la calidad de combustibles que estamos consumiendo, otras medidas tienen que ver con la expansión de la red de transporte público, vamos a construir, como ustedes saben, otra línea del Metro que es una inversión muy grande, y esto lo vamos a complementar con las 10 rutas del Metrobús que se tienen previstas.
Entonces, no son medidas aisladas, en realidad es todo un programa, es todo un plan de trabajo, ya estamos también avanzando para que nuestros grandes depósitos de basura, podamos recuperar el gas que se produce y lo podamos convertir en energía eléctrica, que es algo que están haciendo muchas ciudades del mundo, lo vamos a hacer también.
Y por supuesto, quizá la parte más importante, alguien dice “cuando hay grandes cambios en la sociedad, es cuando las personas asumen decisiones que tienen que ver con su vida cotidiana”, mientras eso no ocurra, ningún gran cambio en la historia del mundo ha tenido éxito
Entonces, nosotros tenemos que lograr que, como sociedad, cambiemos nuestros hábitos todos los días, nuestros hábitos de consumo de energía, de transporte y nuestra forma de ver y de suponer y de pensar nuestros costos ambientales.
Entonces hoy, la ciudad ya está pagando decisiones que se tomaron hace muchos años como por ejemplo, la reducción tremenda que hubo en toda la zona sur de la ciudad, cuando se construye el Periférico Sur y la carretera al Ajusco, esa decisión provocó que se poblara todo el Ajusco, una de las zonas principalísimas de recarga del manto acuífero y de equilibrio de la ciudad.
Bueno, esa decisión, ambientalmente, ya la estamos pagando. ¿En qué? pues simplemente desde el punto de vista del cambio climático que está viviendo la ciudad, hay quien piensa que nuestra ciudad no está sufriendo los efectos del cambio climático.
Entonces, tenemos que hacer estos cambios, y los cambios más importantes ocurren cuando cambiamos nuestros hábitos, nuestra manera de ver nuestra vida cotidiana.
El día de hoy se presenta un vehículo que es el vehículo utilitario, o uno de los vehículos utilitarios que tiene el mayor uso en la Ciudad de México, que se convirtió a un vehículo utilitario con cero emisiones, es decir no tiene emisiones, no tiene gases.
Esto se desarrolló por una empresa mexicana que es Electro Autos Eficaces, una empresa canadiense que se llama Dynamics, y una empresa norteamericana, que se llama Enersys, en coordinación con la Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad.
Entonces, ¿cuáles son sus características? Tiene cero emisiones, 75 a 105 kilómetros de autonomía, 100 kilómetros por hora de velocidad tope, la vida útil del motor se estima de 15 a 20 años y entonces, eso nos significa un ahorro entre 70 y 82 por ciento del consumo de gasolina, lo que significa el consumo de gasolina.
También se ahorra alrededor del 75 por ciento de lo que un usuario hoy de un vehículo a combustión tiene que gastar en mantenimiento y también elimina el gasto en tiempo y dinero por verificaciones, porque este es un vehículo que no debe ser verificado, puesto que no tiene emisiones.
Entonces, el Gobierno de la Ciudad quiere felicitar a las empresas que han participado, la Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad va a seguir apoyando este proyecto y desde luego que, en todo lo que nosotros podamos, y en lo que serán las decisiones del gobierno de la ciudad, va a estar presenta la prioridad de impulsar este tipo de vehículos.
Solamente quiero, para concluir, decir lo siguiente: si alguien tiene alguna duda de que esa tecnología hoy es accesible, de que ya está en el mercado, de que lo podemos hacer, pues simple y llanamente que se suba al vehículo y van a ver que esa tecnología es hoy y está al alcance de nosotros, el generalizarla y el que podamos tener una mucho mejor ciudad de lo que hasta ahora estamos padeciendo, con respecto a la contaminación atmosférica y al cambio climático.
Entonces, muchísimas felicidades, les reiteramos el agradecimiento a la ciudad y, por nuestra parte, nos comprometemos a que vamos a promover de manera importante el cambio tecnológico en nuestra ciudad. No tenemos tiempo y por supuesto, no vamos a perder el tiempo, muchas gracias.
*****
Transcripción de las palabras del jefe de Gobierno del Distrito Federal, Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, durante el Foro Internacional de Eficacia Vehicular 2007, en el Hotel Sheraton Alameda
Muy buenos días, gracias por invitarnos a esta importante ceremonia. Yo quisiera compartir con ustedes algunos elementos para entender qué es lo que estamos buscando hacer.
Como todos sabemos, hay en el mundo un fenómeno muy importante que se ha denominado cambio climático, pero que quiere decir, entre otras cosas, que el planeta está en riesgo, para resumirlo, y que en nuestras manos está poder hacer un cambio importante, es decir, hay riesgos que no podemos reducir, que no podemos modificar, pero hay otros que sí podemos cambiar.
El cambio climático, lo que significa para la sobrevivencia de nuestro planeta sí está en nuestras manos enfrentarlo y reducir sus efectos. En el caso de la Ciudad de México, hemos estados estudiando el clima y también las condiciones de la atmósfera, esas son las dos preocupaciones que tenemos.
Respecto al clima, lo que está sucediendo en la ciudad es lo mismo que está ocurriendo en muchas otras ciudades y regiones del mundo, es decir, estamos observando un incremento de la temperatura; si hacemos una serie de 1900 hasta acá, nos vamos a dar cuenta de que hay variaciones muy claras en los máximos, en cuanto a temperaturas que hemos alcanzado en el Distrito Federal.
Por ejemplo en este año estamos esperando estar alrededor de 35 grados en el verano y, probablemente, suponemos que en los próximos años tendremos que prepararnos para temperaturas hacia 36 grados quizá, 36 y medio. También estamos observando alteraciones en los ciclos de lluvia, en sus pautas de concentración, entonces hay evidencias, aquí en la Ciudad de México, de cuál es el efecto que va teniendo el cambio climático.
Ahora, el otro problema es la calidad del aire que estamos respirando todo en los días en la ciudad. En el Valle de México estamos consumiendo más o menos entre 43 y 45 millones de litros de diferentes combustibles al día, o dicho de otra manera, es el 0.8 por ciento del territorio nacional de donde estamos colocando todos los días, los productos, muchos de ellos con diferentes tipos de toxinas y demás, algunos otros productos cancerígenos, todos los días estamos colocando en la atmósfera 43, 45 millones de litros.
Si nosotros no impulsamos un cambio en nuestros hábitos, en la forma en que vemos y actuamos en nuestra ciudad, entonces el fenómeno del que estoy hablando se va a seguir agudizando.
No sé si ustedes recuerden, ya hace algún tiempo, tuvimos una crisis ambiental en la ciudad, cuando nuestra gasolina tenía tetraetilo de plomo y se llegó a una crisis, empezaron a morir pajaritos, diferentes tipos de aves, entonces se tomó lo que llamamos la primera generación de medidas para responder esa crisis ambiental.
¿Cuáles fueron? Convertidor catalítico, el Hoy no Circula, cambio de combustibles, reducir la cantidad de azufre en el diesel, en fin, toda una serie de medidas, y eso ganó tiempo para la ciudad, pero no lo hemos resuelto.
Entonces, ahora tenemos que tomar la segunda generación de medidas, nada más que con una diferencia, no queremos esperarnos a la próxima crisis, tenemos que actuar antes, por eso nos parece muy relevante lo que hoy se presenta y lo que se ha estado impulsando.
Nosotros tenemos un programa que tiene que ver con varias cosas: en primer lugar, queremos usar y promover medios alternativos de transporte y por esa razón hemos impulsado ciclovías y la utilización de esas ciclovías, porque no basta con que tengamos ciclovías recreativas, está muy bien, pero eso no tiene que ver con lo que estoy hablando.
Estimamos que el total de viajes que se hacen en bicicleta en la ciudad no rebasa el 0.2 por ciento del total de todos los movimientos que tenemos. estudiamos lo que ha ocurrido en otras ciudades, y hay ciudades equivalentes a la Ciudad de México, en donde han llegado hasta 4, 5 por ciento.
Entonces, ¿qué nos proponemos alcanzar en esta administración? Ese promedio de utilización. Eso nos está obligando a reflexionar o tomar acciones sobre otras cosas ¿por qué? porque nos hemos dado cuenta de que nuestros propios empleados viven en Xochimilco, pero trabajan en Gustavo A. Madero, o viven en Iztapalapa, pero trabajan del otro lado de la ciudad, entonces son viajes muy largos, muy caros y si nosotros no hacemos algo sobre eso, pues entonces no es factible que se utilicen otras vías de comunicación y transporte.
Entonces, estamos trabajando en esa línea y estamos invitando a muchas empresas, nuestra meta es llegar a los promedios que han llegado otras ciudades, esa es una medida. Otra medida es que la ciudad impulse nuevas tecnologías, yo acabo de usar este vehículo, es un vehículo que tiene muy buena potencia, muy buen desplazamiento y salvo en zonas que, orográficamente pueden ser muy difíciles, que son las menos, son excepcionales en la ciudad, si pensamos en Cuautepec o algunas zonas de esa naturaleza, es un vehículo que perfectamente puede funcionar en toda la ciudad.
Entonces, si se tiene esa tecnología, bueno, por qué no tomamos medidas, esa es la pregunta que nos hacemos. Nosotros lo que queremos es impulsar el uso de esta tecnología y demostrar que es factible, que es posible y que es deseable, nada más que muchas veces el problema no es que no haya la tecnología, sino que tenemos hábitos y formas de ver la realidad en donde, simplemente, asumimos el costo ambiental como algo que va a pagar otra generación, pues no es cierto, lo estamos pagando desde ya. Entonces, esa es otra medida.
También los vehículos híbridos, estamos trabajando en eso, nos parece que México tiene que estar muy presente en ello y que la industria automotriz tiene que cumplir promedios de eficiencia energética mucho mejores a los que hoy tenemos, eso es lo que la ciudad quiere lograr.
Hay otras medidas que tenemos que tomar, por ejemplo, es una ciudad en donde el transporte público, en el caso de las escuelas, es decepcional, cuando debería ser la regla. Entonces, ese es otro paso que vamos a tomar otra vez, tenemos que cambiar hábitos, va a haber a quien no le va a gustar, va a decir “pero cómo, yo quiero ir en mi camioneta todos los días porque no veo a mi hija o a mi hijo a otra hora”, pero vamos a tener que cambiar los hábitos porque tenemos que cuidar, entre otras, hoy, la salud de estos niños y nuestra calidad de vida.
Otras medidas tienen que ver con el monitoreo de la calidad de combustibles que estamos consumiendo, otras medidas tienen que ver con la expansión de la red de transporte público, vamos a construir, como ustedes saben, otra línea del Metro que es una inversión muy grande, y esto lo vamos a complementar con las 10 rutas del Metrobús que se tienen previstas.
Entonces, no son medidas aisladas, en realidad es todo un programa, es todo un plan de trabajo, ya estamos también avanzando para que nuestros grandes depósitos de basura, podamos recuperar el gas que se produce y lo podamos convertir en energía eléctrica, que es algo que están haciendo muchas ciudades del mundo, lo vamos a hacer también.
Y por supuesto, quizá la parte más importante, alguien dice “cuando hay grandes cambios en la sociedad, es cuando las personas asumen decisiones que tienen que ver con su vida cotidiana”, mientras eso no ocurra, ningún gran cambio en la historia del mundo ha tenido éxito
Entonces, nosotros tenemos que lograr que, como sociedad, cambiemos nuestros hábitos todos los días, nuestros hábitos de consumo de energía, de transporte y nuestra forma de ver y de suponer y de pensar nuestros costos ambientales.
Entonces hoy, la ciudad ya está pagando decisiones que se tomaron hace muchos años como por ejemplo, la reducción tremenda que hubo en toda la zona sur de la ciudad, cuando se construye el Periférico Sur y la carretera al Ajusco, esa decisión provocó que se poblara todo el Ajusco, una de las zonas principalísimas de recarga del manto acuífero y de equilibrio de la ciudad.
Bueno, esa decisión, ambientalmente, ya la estamos pagando. ¿En qué? pues simplemente desde el punto de vista del cambio climático que está viviendo la ciudad, hay quien piensa que nuestra ciudad no está sufriendo los efectos del cambio climático.
Entonces, tenemos que hacer estos cambios, y los cambios más importantes ocurren cuando cambiamos nuestros hábitos, nuestra manera de ver nuestra vida cotidiana.
El día de hoy se presenta un vehículo que es el vehículo utilitario, o uno de los vehículos utilitarios que tiene el mayor uso en la Ciudad de México, que se convirtió a un vehículo utilitario con cero emisiones, es decir no tiene emisiones, no tiene gases.
Esto se desarrolló por una empresa mexicana que es Electro Autos Eficaces, una empresa canadiense que se llama Dynamics, y una empresa norteamericana, que se llama Enersys, en coordinación con la Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad.
Entonces, ¿cuáles son sus características? Tiene cero emisiones, 75 a 105 kilómetros de autonomía, 100 kilómetros por hora de velocidad tope, la vida útil del motor se estima de 15 a 20 años y entonces, eso nos significa un ahorro entre 70 y 82 por ciento del consumo de gasolina, lo que significa el consumo de gasolina.
También se ahorra alrededor del 75 por ciento de lo que un usuario hoy de un vehículo a combustión tiene que gastar en mantenimiento y también elimina el gasto en tiempo y dinero por verificaciones, porque este es un vehículo que no debe ser verificado, puesto que no tiene emisiones.
Entonces, el Gobierno de la Ciudad quiere felicitar a las empresas que han participado, la Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad va a seguir apoyando este proyecto y desde luego que, en todo lo que nosotros podamos, y en lo que serán las decisiones del gobierno de la ciudad, va a estar presenta la prioridad de impulsar este tipo de vehículos.
Solamente quiero, para concluir, decir lo siguiente: si alguien tiene alguna duda de que esa tecnología hoy es accesible, de que ya está en el mercado, de que lo podemos hacer, pues simple y llanamente que se suba al vehículo y van a ver que esa tecnología es hoy y está al alcance de nosotros, el generalizarla y el que podamos tener una mucho mejor ciudad de lo que hasta ahora estamos padeciendo, con respecto a la contaminación atmosférica y al cambio climático.
Entonces, muchísimas felicidades, les reiteramos el agradecimiento a la ciudad y, por nuestra parte, nos comprometemos a que vamos a promover de manera importante el cambio tecnológico en nuestra ciudad. No tenemos tiempo y por supuesto, no vamos a perder el tiempo, muchas gracias.
*****
Numero Uno: Mexico City's Electric Sentra
By EV World
Exclusive EV World video of the first Nissan Sentra electric car conversion in Mexico City.
| | |
PHOTO CAPTION: Nissan Sentra/Tsuru conversion numero uno is a 1997 model acquired to demonstrate the feasibility of converting one of the most popular vehicles in Mexico to electric drive. Herman Fuchs' (visible in background to the right with arms folded) company received the car from Boston on a Thursday, completely stripped it, refurbished and repainted it in just two days. This photo was taken Sunday afternoon, May 6, 2007.
Open Access Article Originally Published: May 13, 2007
It's amazing what determination and a deadline can do.
The car you are looking at in the photo above is a 1997 Nissan Sentra, known as the Tsuru in Mexico where there are an estimated one million of them on the roads, perhaps a quarter to a third of them in government fleets and commercial taxi service.
In just a year's time, a small team of Mexican businessmen have pulled together an ambitious program to convert at least 1000 others like it belonging to the municipal government of Mexico City. As of Tuesday, May 8, 2007, the project has the official blessing of the Mayor. More information on their plans are revealed in Viva la R-EV-olución!.
But we wanted to give all our readers an opportunity to learn a little bit about the program and who better to do it than one of the key team members, Luis Peres, who develops real estate and co-owns an industrial coatings plant in Texas. The video below was also recorded on Sunday, May 6th during a brief test drive near the National University of Mexico on the south side of the city.
Peres and his associates, who formed Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico or EAE, also have two other Sentras being converted by two different conversion specialists in the United States utilizing different electric drive systems, which they will then spend the summer evaluating before committing to a particular supplier. The supplier of Tsuru Conversion No. 0001 is Canadian-based Azure Dynamics.
Before video taping Senor Peres, our publisher, Bill Moore drove the car several mlles and reports that he found it responsive, quiet and surprisingly easy to drive despite not having electric power steering, which was kept off the car, along with electric air conditioning, to keep the system as simple as possible, as well as the cost down.
The following day, Bill also got to ride in the car as it was being driven by Marti Batres, the Secretary for Social Development for Mexico City, whose 22 million population makes it a virtual country unto itself; and Fernando Menendez, the chief advisor to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. Again the car performed flawlessly and both officials were completely satisfied, though naturally interested in the cost of program, which is expected to be funded solely from the savings in fuel and maintenance the city would other have to spend on each vehicle.
By late summer, EAE should be ready to move forward with conversion number 0004 and beyond.
By EV World
Exclusive EV World video of the first Nissan Sentra electric car conversion in Mexico City.
| | |
PHOTO CAPTION: Nissan Sentra/Tsuru conversion numero uno is a 1997 model acquired to demonstrate the feasibility of converting one of the most popular vehicles in Mexico to electric drive. Herman Fuchs' (visible in background to the right with arms folded) company received the car from Boston on a Thursday, completely stripped it, refurbished and repainted it in just two days. This photo was taken Sunday afternoon, May 6, 2007.
Open Access Article Originally Published: May 13, 2007
It's amazing what determination and a deadline can do.
The car you are looking at in the photo above is a 1997 Nissan Sentra, known as the Tsuru in Mexico where there are an estimated one million of them on the roads, perhaps a quarter to a third of them in government fleets and commercial taxi service.
In just a year's time, a small team of Mexican businessmen have pulled together an ambitious program to convert at least 1000 others like it belonging to the municipal government of Mexico City. As of Tuesday, May 8, 2007, the project has the official blessing of the Mayor. More information on their plans are revealed in Viva la R-EV-olución!.
But we wanted to give all our readers an opportunity to learn a little bit about the program and who better to do it than one of the key team members, Luis Peres, who develops real estate and co-owns an industrial coatings plant in Texas. The video below was also recorded on Sunday, May 6th during a brief test drive near the National University of Mexico on the south side of the city.
Peres and his associates, who formed Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico or EAE, also have two other Sentras being converted by two different conversion specialists in the United States utilizing different electric drive systems, which they will then spend the summer evaluating before committing to a particular supplier. The supplier of Tsuru Conversion No. 0001 is Canadian-based Azure Dynamics.
Before video taping Senor Peres, our publisher, Bill Moore drove the car several mlles and reports that he found it responsive, quiet and surprisingly easy to drive despite not having electric power steering, which was kept off the car, along with electric air conditioning, to keep the system as simple as possible, as well as the cost down.
The following day, Bill also got to ride in the car as it was being driven by Marti Batres, the Secretary for Social Development for Mexico City, whose 22 million population makes it a virtual country unto itself; and Fernando Menendez, the chief advisor to Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. Again the car performed flawlessly and both officials were completely satisfied, though naturally interested in the cost of program, which is expected to be funded solely from the savings in fuel and maintenance the city would other have to spend on each vehicle.
By late summer, EAE should be ready to move forward with conversion number 0004 and beyond.
Viva la R-EV-olución!
By Bill Moore
Mexican businessmen are planning a quiet little coup, not of their government, but against smog and global warming
| | |
PHOTO CAPTION: Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard with Nissan Sentra/Tsuru electric car conversion numero uno. Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico plans to initially convert 1000 city-owned Tsurus to all-electric drive, which the company hopes will ultimately employ upwards of 40,000 technicians, effectively jumpstarting a brand new industry in Mexico.
Open Access Article Originally Published: May 13, 2007
All revolutions start small. This one began with a bicycle.
As directed by His Honor Marcelo Ebrard. the mayor of Mexico City, the head of the Secretaria de Desarrollo Social (Department of Social Development) rode his bicycle to work along with hundreds of other city employees. Attired in a snappy dark blue pin-stripe suit and yellow silk tie, Marti Batres is one of the leading progressives in the Ebrard administration that some three months ago ordered all senior city officials to park their cars and ride bicycles to their jobs in downtown Mexico City the first Monday of every month.
There was the expected grousing, but supported by loyal officials like Batres, the mayor stood firm and said that if his senior managers weren't willing to follow his example and ride their bikes too, they would no longer be considered a part of his administration. The mass of executives and secretaries peddling into the Zocalo, the historic central plaza of the city, resembles a Tour de France peloton.
But on this Monday, Marti, as he's popularly known (it is speculated that he could be the next mayor of the city), left his cyclist's helmet in his office and with a trusted advisor, got behind the wheel of a freshly repainted 1997 Nissan Tsuru (called Sentra in the United States) and headed out of the basement parking garage of the municipal building and south along an expressway toward a favorite neighbor restaurant for lunch. But unlike the tens of thousands of Tsurus owned by the Federal District, which encompasses Greater Mexico City and its 22 million inhabitants, this one is unique. It is all-electric.
The story behind this unusual car goes back more than a year when a local businessman named Victor Juarez G. got tired of waiting for someone to develop an affordable electric car. $100,000 electric sports cars weren't going to cut it in Mexico, except for a very few of the very wealthy. What was needed was someone to figure out a way to convert thousands of already existing vehicles to electric and Mexico City's fleet of tireless Tsurus seemed the ideal candidate.
So, Juarez G. began having discussions with senior officials like Batres, the Transportation Secretary Amando Quintero and Fernando Menendez, the mayor's advisor and a former World Bank executive, who proudly showed off to me the Brompton folding bike he rides to work the first Monday of each month. With their encouragement, Juarez G. began a year-long search for companies who could economically convert a Tsuru.
To prevent the project from getting bogged down in bureaucracy and red tape, Juarez G. decided to keep it in private hands. He enlisted the aid of six long-time friends and business associates who formed Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico or EAE. [See exclusive EV World video of early test drive].
Three of the partners were already in the automobile business, two upgraded their client's expensive luxury cars and SUVs with bullet-proof armor and glass. The third catered to wealthy clients looking to restore or repair expensive luxury and sports cars. Others are in real estate, public relations and information technology. All are driven by a common vision, do something about global warming and the city's notorious air pollution, which affects the health of rich and poor alike.
Theirs is a bold and innovative concept. For the program to be meaningful in terms of its environmental and political impact, they set their goal on converting 1000 (mil in Spanish) municipal government vehicles from gasoline engine-powered to pure-electrics. Additionally, ordering a legion of EVs would allow EAE sufficient scale to negotiate the ultimate price of each system, which includes the electric drive system and the battery pack, down to a target price of around $10,000 each. The goal is to basically pay for the conversion from the money the city would save in maintenance and fuel costs over the life of the vehicle. City employees siphon off 10-15% of the government's gasoline for use in their personal vehicles each day, so converting to electric would put an immediate stop to that 'fringe' benefit.
Open Access Article Originally Published: May 13, 2007
The project also envisioned having the added economic stimulus of ultimately employing as many as 40,000 workers spread across all 16 of the Federal District's sub-districts. Independent conversion shops initially would turn out a car a week and with experience, eventually one a day. Together the government, EAE and scores of participating shops would create the largest electric car conversion fleet in the world, in one of the most populated and polluted cities on the planet, setting the stage for thrusting Mexico into the forefront of electric vehicle manufacturing and operation.
But for the dream to become a reality, Juarez G. and his colleagues had to find companies who could deliver a proven, affordable, simple but reliable electric drive. The search would take Juarez G. from Canada to California, Florida to Oregon. I would bump into him at the EDTA conference in Washington D.C. in 2006 and a few weeks later at the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica, where he brought along two of EAE's founding partners.
Their search narrowed down to three companies, but the first to deliver a working vehicle was Vancouver, BC-based Azure Dynamics. It was their conversion -- based on the upgraded Solectria AC24 motor and DMOC 44 control system with adjustable regenerative braking originally developed in the 1990s for a Chevy Geo conversion call the Force -- that EAE debuted for Mayor Ebrard and Transportation Secretary Quintero in a large conference room of the Sheraton Centro Historica in downtown Mexico City on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.
While Victor Juarez G. is clearly the "godfather" of the program and the six EAE partners are the proud parents, one of the key people who has helped make it all possible is Azure Dynamics VP for Engineering Ricardo Espinosa.
Born in Ecuador and educated in the United States, Espinosa speaks fluent Spanish. Having spent three days with him starting at Herman Fuch's restoration shop near the National University of Mexico, and then in the car with him while he patiently answered questions from both Batres and Menendez while they drove around downtown Mexico City, it became very clear that this former Solectria employee (Azure Dynamics bought the company in early 2005) is one of the main reasons why his company was first to deliver a vehicle, which gives them an enormous advantage in the competition and opens up the door to other, even more promising projects including converting to electric or hybrid drives many of the 35,000 privately owned and operated Ruta 30-passenger transit buses that crisscross the city.
The program is so important to Azure Dynamics that both its Chairman, Cam Deacons and its new CEO Scott Harrison flew to Mexico City to participate in the EV Forum that EAE organized as the event at which the converted and repainted 1997 Tsuru would make its debut, rolling out on its quiet, clean electric power from behind a curtain opened by two lovely "senoritas." It crossed in front of the audience of some 100 or so dignitaries and half-a-hundred television, radio and print reporters, something you'd be loath to do with its gasoline sibling in an enclosed space.
The car's electric drive system, which is rated at 20kW continuous output, is energized by 15 Genesis 70XE Enersys lead-acid batteries (180 volts, 9kW at 1C 50 amp rate) positioned in the front, under the hood and in the trunk. Azure Dynamics took pains to install aluminum battery boxes in the rear and mounting them so there is some useable trunk space, about as much as you'd find in a typical natural gas or propane conversion. The vehicle is just 180 pounds over the original OEM curb weight. Range is between 50-65 miles and the top speed (using a direct drive AT1200 gearbox at a 12 to 1 ratio) is 100km/hr (63 mph).
By Senor Juarez G's estimation there may be as many as a million Nissan Tsurus in Mexico and the municipal government of Mexico City, which provides services to some 22 million inhabitants and employes upwards of 200,000 people, has many thousands of them in its fleet. The local taxi fleets in Mexico City also utilize thousands of them, along with what seems a variable swarm of green and white VW Beetles -- the original models, which have had the front passenger seat removed to better accommodate passenger egress.
With the Mayor pretty much officially signing-off on the program while literally engulfed in media shoving microphones, recorders and cameras in His Honor's face, EAE partners already have a well-thought-out strategy in place to move the program forward at just as accelerated pace as getting the car developed and organizing the May 8, 2007 EV Forum. Their two other prototype conversions should arrive by early summer and begin undergoing comparative evaluation. In the meantime, two of the partners with automotive facilities -- one in the north of the city and the other in the south -- will begin holding training sessions for businesses interested in becoming conversion shops. And because it may take 3-4 months for the city to reimburse the shop owners for each vehicle they convert, EAE has also established a line of credit with local banks to help the shops finance the conversions.
EAE and Azure Dynamics have also begun discussions with Ruta bus operators and they are even beginning dialogue on building solar charging stations around the city, most of whose electric power comes for oil-fired steam generators.
Meanwhile siting in the shop near the University is a late model black Ford Mustang that EAE plans to also convert to electric; not as a government commuter, but as a performance car that, like its electric drag-racing counterparts north of the border, will blow the doors off the competition; the objective being to show the public in Mexico just how exciting electric drive vehicles can be.
The obvious question is, What ultimately will be the outcome of this bold plan? Azure Dynamics' Scott Harrison indicated when asked about the possibility of manufacturing their drive systems in Mexico that given a sufficient volume of orders, it only made sense to consider building those thousands of drives in Mexico.
Could descendants of the electric car driven by Secretary Batres and Senor Menendez on May 7th begin to find their way both north and south? Given the deliberate and aggressive energy with which Victor Juarez G. and his colleagues are moving, it would seem a pretty good bet. Mexico someday could find itself the EV manufacturing center of the Western Hemisphere.
Recuerde, todo el comienzo de las revoluciones pequeño.
END STORY
By Bill Moore
Mexican businessmen are planning a quiet little coup, not of their government, but against smog and global warming
| | |
PHOTO CAPTION: Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard with Nissan Sentra/Tsuru electric car conversion numero uno. Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico plans to initially convert 1000 city-owned Tsurus to all-electric drive, which the company hopes will ultimately employ upwards of 40,000 technicians, effectively jumpstarting a brand new industry in Mexico.
Open Access Article Originally Published: May 13, 2007
All revolutions start small. This one began with a bicycle.
As directed by His Honor Marcelo Ebrard. the mayor of Mexico City, the head of the Secretaria de Desarrollo Social (Department of Social Development) rode his bicycle to work along with hundreds of other city employees. Attired in a snappy dark blue pin-stripe suit and yellow silk tie, Marti Batres is one of the leading progressives in the Ebrard administration that some three months ago ordered all senior city officials to park their cars and ride bicycles to their jobs in downtown Mexico City the first Monday of every month.
There was the expected grousing, but supported by loyal officials like Batres, the mayor stood firm and said that if his senior managers weren't willing to follow his example and ride their bikes too, they would no longer be considered a part of his administration. The mass of executives and secretaries peddling into the Zocalo, the historic central plaza of the city, resembles a Tour de France peloton.
But on this Monday, Marti, as he's popularly known (it is speculated that he could be the next mayor of the city), left his cyclist's helmet in his office and with a trusted advisor, got behind the wheel of a freshly repainted 1997 Nissan Tsuru (called Sentra in the United States) and headed out of the basement parking garage of the municipal building and south along an expressway toward a favorite neighbor restaurant for lunch. But unlike the tens of thousands of Tsurus owned by the Federal District, which encompasses Greater Mexico City and its 22 million inhabitants, this one is unique. It is all-electric.
The story behind this unusual car goes back more than a year when a local businessman named Victor Juarez G. got tired of waiting for someone to develop an affordable electric car. $100,000 electric sports cars weren't going to cut it in Mexico, except for a very few of the very wealthy. What was needed was someone to figure out a way to convert thousands of already existing vehicles to electric and Mexico City's fleet of tireless Tsurus seemed the ideal candidate.
So, Juarez G. began having discussions with senior officials like Batres, the Transportation Secretary Amando Quintero and Fernando Menendez, the mayor's advisor and a former World Bank executive, who proudly showed off to me the Brompton folding bike he rides to work the first Monday of each month. With their encouragement, Juarez G. began a year-long search for companies who could economically convert a Tsuru.
To prevent the project from getting bogged down in bureaucracy and red tape, Juarez G. decided to keep it in private hands. He enlisted the aid of six long-time friends and business associates who formed Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico or EAE. [See exclusive EV World video of early test drive].
Three of the partners were already in the automobile business, two upgraded their client's expensive luxury cars and SUVs with bullet-proof armor and glass. The third catered to wealthy clients looking to restore or repair expensive luxury and sports cars. Others are in real estate, public relations and information technology. All are driven by a common vision, do something about global warming and the city's notorious air pollution, which affects the health of rich and poor alike.
Theirs is a bold and innovative concept. For the program to be meaningful in terms of its environmental and political impact, they set their goal on converting 1000 (mil in Spanish) municipal government vehicles from gasoline engine-powered to pure-electrics. Additionally, ordering a legion of EVs would allow EAE sufficient scale to negotiate the ultimate price of each system, which includes the electric drive system and the battery pack, down to a target price of around $10,000 each. The goal is to basically pay for the conversion from the money the city would save in maintenance and fuel costs over the life of the vehicle. City employees siphon off 10-15% of the government's gasoline for use in their personal vehicles each day, so converting to electric would put an immediate stop to that 'fringe' benefit.
Open Access Article Originally Published: May 13, 2007
The project also envisioned having the added economic stimulus of ultimately employing as many as 40,000 workers spread across all 16 of the Federal District's sub-districts. Independent conversion shops initially would turn out a car a week and with experience, eventually one a day. Together the government, EAE and scores of participating shops would create the largest electric car conversion fleet in the world, in one of the most populated and polluted cities on the planet, setting the stage for thrusting Mexico into the forefront of electric vehicle manufacturing and operation.
But for the dream to become a reality, Juarez G. and his colleagues had to find companies who could deliver a proven, affordable, simple but reliable electric drive. The search would take Juarez G. from Canada to California, Florida to Oregon. I would bump into him at the EDTA conference in Washington D.C. in 2006 and a few weeks later at the AltCar Expo in Santa Monica, where he brought along two of EAE's founding partners.
Their search narrowed down to three companies, but the first to deliver a working vehicle was Vancouver, BC-based Azure Dynamics. It was their conversion -- based on the upgraded Solectria AC24 motor and DMOC 44 control system with adjustable regenerative braking originally developed in the 1990s for a Chevy Geo conversion call the Force -- that EAE debuted for Mayor Ebrard and Transportation Secretary Quintero in a large conference room of the Sheraton Centro Historica in downtown Mexico City on Tuesday, May 8, 2007.
While Victor Juarez G. is clearly the "godfather" of the program and the six EAE partners are the proud parents, one of the key people who has helped make it all possible is Azure Dynamics VP for Engineering Ricardo Espinosa.
Born in Ecuador and educated in the United States, Espinosa speaks fluent Spanish. Having spent three days with him starting at Herman Fuch's restoration shop near the National University of Mexico, and then in the car with him while he patiently answered questions from both Batres and Menendez while they drove around downtown Mexico City, it became very clear that this former Solectria employee (Azure Dynamics bought the company in early 2005) is one of the main reasons why his company was first to deliver a vehicle, which gives them an enormous advantage in the competition and opens up the door to other, even more promising projects including converting to electric or hybrid drives many of the 35,000 privately owned and operated Ruta 30-passenger transit buses that crisscross the city.
The program is so important to Azure Dynamics that both its Chairman, Cam Deacons and its new CEO Scott Harrison flew to Mexico City to participate in the EV Forum that EAE organized as the event at which the converted and repainted 1997 Tsuru would make its debut, rolling out on its quiet, clean electric power from behind a curtain opened by two lovely "senoritas." It crossed in front of the audience of some 100 or so dignitaries and half-a-hundred television, radio and print reporters, something you'd be loath to do with its gasoline sibling in an enclosed space.
The car's electric drive system, which is rated at 20kW continuous output, is energized by 15 Genesis 70XE Enersys lead-acid batteries (180 volts, 9kW at 1C 50 amp rate) positioned in the front, under the hood and in the trunk. Azure Dynamics took pains to install aluminum battery boxes in the rear and mounting them so there is some useable trunk space, about as much as you'd find in a typical natural gas or propane conversion. The vehicle is just 180 pounds over the original OEM curb weight. Range is between 50-65 miles and the top speed (using a direct drive AT1200 gearbox at a 12 to 1 ratio) is 100km/hr (63 mph).
By Senor Juarez G's estimation there may be as many as a million Nissan Tsurus in Mexico and the municipal government of Mexico City, which provides services to some 22 million inhabitants and employes upwards of 200,000 people, has many thousands of them in its fleet. The local taxi fleets in Mexico City also utilize thousands of them, along with what seems a variable swarm of green and white VW Beetles -- the original models, which have had the front passenger seat removed to better accommodate passenger egress.
With the Mayor pretty much officially signing-off on the program while literally engulfed in media shoving microphones, recorders and cameras in His Honor's face, EAE partners already have a well-thought-out strategy in place to move the program forward at just as accelerated pace as getting the car developed and organizing the May 8, 2007 EV Forum. Their two other prototype conversions should arrive by early summer and begin undergoing comparative evaluation. In the meantime, two of the partners with automotive facilities -- one in the north of the city and the other in the south -- will begin holding training sessions for businesses interested in becoming conversion shops. And because it may take 3-4 months for the city to reimburse the shop owners for each vehicle they convert, EAE has also established a line of credit with local banks to help the shops finance the conversions.
EAE and Azure Dynamics have also begun discussions with Ruta bus operators and they are even beginning dialogue on building solar charging stations around the city, most of whose electric power comes for oil-fired steam generators.
Meanwhile siting in the shop near the University is a late model black Ford Mustang that EAE plans to also convert to electric; not as a government commuter, but as a performance car that, like its electric drag-racing counterparts north of the border, will blow the doors off the competition; the objective being to show the public in Mexico just how exciting electric drive vehicles can be.
The obvious question is, What ultimately will be the outcome of this bold plan? Azure Dynamics' Scott Harrison indicated when asked about the possibility of manufacturing their drive systems in Mexico that given a sufficient volume of orders, it only made sense to consider building those thousands of drives in Mexico.
Could descendants of the electric car driven by Secretary Batres and Senor Menendez on May 7th begin to find their way both north and south? Given the deliberate and aggressive energy with which Victor Juarez G. and his colleagues are moving, it would seem a pretty good bet. Mexico someday could find itself the EV manufacturing center of the Western Hemisphere.
Recuerde, todo el comienzo de las revoluciones pequeño.
END STORY
Promueve GDF convertir autos de gasolina a electricidad
El GDF junto con organizaciones civiles puso en marcha un programa piloto para convertir mil automóviles oficiales de gasolina a electricidad en 18 meses.
ElUniversal DF
Para realizar dicho proyecto, serán capacitados mecánicos de 80 talleres durante dos semanas, con el propósito de introducir tecnología limpia a la ciudad y combatir el calentamiento atmosférico, la contaminación del aire y los daños a la estratosfera.
En conferencia de prensa, Fernando Meléndez, asesor de Marcelo Ebrad; Luis Pérez Quintana de la empresa Electro Autos Eficaces y Víctor Juárez, coordinador de la Asociación Civil eficacia vehicular, dijeron que aunque el costo aproximado de la conversión oscila entre los 90 y 120 mil pesos, el ahorro es mayor debido a que se eliminan gastos de gasolina y mantenimiento con una vida útil de la unidad de 27 años con un uso normal.
Lo anterior lo señalaron al anunciar la realización del Foro Internacional que se celebrará el 8 de mayo para conocer las primeras acciones ciudadanas ante el reto del cambio climático, entre las que se encuentra la conversión de vehículos T-Suru.
ElUniversal DF
Para realizar dicho proyecto, serán capacitados mecánicos de 80 talleres durante dos semanas, con el propósito de introducir tecnología limpia a la ciudad y combatir el calentamiento atmosférico, la contaminación del aire y los daños a la estratosfera.
En conferencia de prensa, Fernando Meléndez, asesor de Marcelo Ebrad; Luis Pérez Quintana de la empresa Electro Autos Eficaces y Víctor Juárez, coordinador de la Asociación Civil eficacia vehicular, dijeron que aunque el costo aproximado de la conversión oscila entre los 90 y 120 mil pesos, el ahorro es mayor debido a que se eliminan gastos de gasolina y mantenimiento con una vida útil de la unidad de 27 años con un uso normal.
Lo anterior lo señalaron al anunciar la realización del Foro Internacional que se celebrará el 8 de mayo para conocer las primeras acciones ciudadanas ante el reto del cambio climático, entre las que se encuentra la conversión de vehículos T-Suru.
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