EV Engineering Limited announces $3.5M Holden Commodore electric project

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By Brett Davis | February 18th, 2011

A government-backed initiative was announced today which brought multiple auto companies together to form EV Engineering Limited. The collaboration is hoping to develop seven all-electric Holden Commodore concept prototypes with help from a $3.5 million Green Car Innovation Fund grant.

Companies comprising Holden, the CSIRO, Bosch, Continental, Better Place and Air International will all join forces in the project, one that hopes to pave the way in electric vehicle technology in Australia. The seven vehicles will be used as a test bed to see how electric and plug-in hybrid technology works in Australia’s infrastructure. If the cars are successful, they could form the basis of showroom-ready models in the future.

The project will also be in line with Australia’s ‘Automotive Australia 2020′ direction and will be the first large, mutli-organisation initiative to engineer a large EV sedan in Australia. Chairman of EV Engineering Limited (former President and CEO of Mitsubishi Australia), Robert McEniry, said at today’s announcement,

“This collaboration is evidence that the local manufacturing and automotive industries have recognised the important role these vehicles will play in their future.

“EV Engineering Limited builds on the existing strengths of the industry in large sized passenger vehicles for both domestic and export markets. This initiative will strengthen the local capabilities and give Australia the opportunity to lead the world in the development of large, powerful, zero-emissions vehicles, and ensure we remain globally competitive in this sustainable, high growth market

The project is set to take just 15 months, but even if a production model were to come out of it, the upcoming 2013 or 2014 Holden Commodore would be on the market by then. Regardless, it is great to see the Australian auto industry working together to come up with feasible means of zero tailpipe-emission transport.

We look forward to bringing you more updates to the EV Engineering Limited Commodore concepts in the near future.

JEKYL & HYDE

holden will have to shave off more than a kilo or two to make this work with batteries(mazda may be the role model)…
Michael Sutcliffe

Ahh, government-backed initiatives. This is sure to be a success.
bangel

Another pile of money wasted on a mickey mouse project.

As JEKYL says strip of the kilo’s , wrong car to attempt all electric .
http://bugatti Dennis

Awesome RWD EV Burnouts lol

Steve

Tyre emissions laws will be in place in 2021.

http://Www.jjj.com Tom

It doesn’t matter australia does what it’s parent company does! Good price for the current government tho!
Alexander

While a Commodore EV is a smart idea, but would it not be smarter to take the production ready Volt Plug In Hybrid drivetrain and use it in a Cruze like GM did with the very first Volt prototypes? It could be production ready within a year and more likely to gel with consumers due to eliminating range anxiety.

Shak

GM is readying a Cruze with the Voltec propulsion system, however it isn’t likely to be made alongisde the Cruze downunder. It is a very smart idea as the Voltec system is very innovative in many ways, as it allows people to virtually to never use liquid fossil fuels if they plan their charging times well.

Dennis

Well it all depends if they are doing an extend range EV versus a normal EV.

Alexander

At the end of the day, using a petrol motor to generate electricity to power an electric motor is very inefficient. It is more efficient to use a ‘conventional’ full hybrid system (Hybrid Synergy Drive, Audi’s system, GM’s dual mode system) with extra batteries for a 50km EV only range, then reverting to normal hybrid operation once the extra battery capacity is depleted than using a ‘generator’ blasting away at 6.7l/100km to generate electricity like in the Volt.

Having the Volt’s 1.4 engine using fuel at 6.7l/100km to charge the batteries after the 64km EV range is wasteful, GM would have been smarter going for a ‘normal’ hybrid system (think Prius) that can achieve around 4 to 4.5l/100km after the 64km range is used up.

Alexander

so say for example having a Prius with extra batteries that can achieve a 60km EV range, then revert back to the normal Prius mode once those batteries have been used and achieve 3.9l/100km is MUCH more efficient than having an ‘EV’ than can drive 60km, then has to rely on a generator blasting away at 6.7l/100km after the batteries are depleted. GM should have thought about their Voltec drivetrain a little more before releasing it, it seems rushed.

Peter

Actually, you can do a plug-in prius now. There is a kit for about $5000 from various sources including local suppliers (check via web search). The increased battery can be charged from GreenPower so most of the energy for shorter trips can be gained from renewable sources. On longer trips it reverts to its usual mode.

Alexander

I’ve looked heavily into conversions for my Prius, The Enginer and Nilc02 kits are too basic and the max EV speed is limited to 46km/h (as per a stock Prius), while the PICC kit is very expensive ($13000) but allows for a 50KM EV range up to 110km/h. The Hymotion kit is strictly available in the US only, which is unfortunate as it’s the best compromise capacity, functionality and cost wise.

But as you said, with Greenpower energy or a roof mounted solar PV system, it is possible to modify a Prius into a short distance, low speed totally zero emissions vehicle, but it’s not worth the trouble considering the amount of Plug In cars heading for release in the near future.

Dave S

This is great news. There should be more to EV’s than tiny hatchbacks with poor rear vision. If they can turn our best selling car into an EV they are on a winner.
http://CarAdvice Onepoppa

Alexander is right. The Volt uses a Cruze platform so could well work in the time frame mentioned – a RWD electric vehicle would be a world first – great for OZ? Hardly! Just think why nobody else is doing this – maybe for a whole lot of very good reasons.

Shak

Well, Porsche is looking into electrifying the Panamera and if im not mistaken, that comes in RWD.

Andrew

Err Tesla roadster anybody?

Lazybones

Mitsubishi MIEV is RWD
Alexander

The Tesla Roadster and Model S, Mitsubishi iMiev, BMW Active E and Megacity, Fisker Karma (PHEV) are all RWD. In some respects creating a RWD EV is just as easy as creating a FWD one, electic motors are pretty compact and dont need the driveshafts etc as they mount in between the rear wheels. So RWD EV’s will be fairly common…

Robin Graves

More taxpayer money wasted on a sub par GM bunky.
Andrew M

This is all well and good as long as there is still money in the green fund when they go to collect.

Already its being pulled back in a big way
BOHICA

Always a good initiative,yet Australia is again a follower not leader.
Chery have partnered with this mob a while ago.
GM have the steps via Volt/Cruze,Holden will piggy back in 5 years yet depends on how much the government wishes to spend first.GM will not spend big money in Aust,nor Ford.
antony virgo

The batteries are lithium ion and are the “swap out” version. This means the car comes with two sets of batteries one always on charge at home. You can also roll up to a station and change out your battery pack for a charged set in about the time it takes to pump a full tank of petrol.This overcomes the distance limitations of the “GM Volt”.
A concrete EV only lane inset with powerful rare earth magnets could be built for this car when an onboard induction plate is fitted……..the input is external like the overhead wires on a tram and also frictionless therefore it can work to charge the batteries, the cars motion being used to run the induction plate through the magnetic field. The plate deploying to a lowered position (200mm) automatically when a strong magnetic field is detected.
Robert

I am all for electric car but they are no good for long trips and need to be able to be charged in a very short time other wise they will be a strictly a town car which wont suit every one