If you've picked up a magazine in the last year, you've likely seen ads touting ExxonMobil's research into lithium-ion batteries.
Next week, you will get a further look into how that technology will come to the marketplace.
Electrovaya on Wednesday will discuss its plans for the Maya 300, an all-electric vehicle coming in 2011. The car will run on lithium-ion batteries, charge in about eight to 10 hours, run for 60 miles and plug into regular 110-volt outlets. It will cost around $20,000 to $25,000. An extended-range battery option will run for 120 miles on a charge and cost $30,000 to $35,000.
Electrovaya is a battery maker, but is also producing the car. When it was first announced, Electrovaya said the Maya would be a low-speed electric vehicle. These cars – which are currently made by Zenn Motors and Miles Automotive – top out at 25 to 35 miles an hour and mostly get sold to army bases, campuses and retirement communities.
Low-speed vehicles, though, sell in the $10,000 to $15,000 range, so the price indicates that Electrovaya may have lifted the governor (a feedback device on the car's engine that can be used to prevent the car from accelerating too fast) and turned it into a delivery vehicle/town car similar to the Think City.
ExxonMobil makes the separator film for Electrovaya's battery, called the SuperPolymer (what, no Duper?) Besides battery and battery capacity, it will be interesting to listen if Electrovaya talks about new materials to reduce weight and increase aerodynamics. In the automotive world, design has become what we call the third fuel. Both Bright Automotive and Aptera have made design and materials a major part of their strategies.
The company also plans to show the car at the National Motor Vehicle and Aviation Workshop taking place in Chicago, which starts on July 28.