AeroVironment

BMW ActiveE home charging supplier also powers Leaf, Volt

To power its upcoming test fleet of electric vehicles, BMW announced AeroVironment as the preferred supplier and installer for the ActiveE's 240-volt home charging dock.

Based on the 1-Series, the BMW ActiveE has a 32-kWh lithium ion battery pack that provides a 100-mile range. The AeroVironment EVSE-RS charging station uses the industry standard SAE J1772 connector to deliver approximately 25 miles of driving range per hour of charging time. Using the EVSE-RS charger, a completely drained battery can be fully recharged in 4 to 5 hours.

BMWs aren't the only electric cars the EVSE-RS can charge--AeroVironment's weather-proof … Read more

First hydrogen-powered UAV takes flight

When it comes to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), hydrogen is all the rage.

The first hydrogen-powered, unmanned UAV flight took place over California yesterday, AeroVironment, a company with 20 years experience in building unmanned aircraft, announced. Dubbed Global Observer, the "unmanned aircraft system" took off from Edwards Air Force Base and lasted more than four hours in the air. The company said the aircraft was able to reach an altitude of 5,000 feet.

Last year, Global Observer was put to the test at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The government organization load tested Global Observer's … Read more

So far, garage is hub of EV charging action

A small but serviceable infrastructure for charging the batteries in electric vehicles is springing up in the United States, but it's largely in people's own garages.

Outside the home, more charging stations are being built, but locations are still widely scattered. In the long run, experts say, the basic charging technology being used to launch tiny volumes of EVs today probably will predominate in the near future.

"Most of the technology issues are minimal," says Phil Gott, director of automotive consulting for IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.

Global Insight's main concern about electric vehicles is consumer resistance because of the limited range of EVs, Gott says. A widespread charging structure--particularly high-voltage, fast-charging stations--could overcome that objection.

But the consensus is that the majority of initial EV owners will recharge overnight at home using slower, comparatively low-voltage charging stations. High-voltage charging stations will top off the battery during the day if necessary, at locations such as shopping malls or at recharging stations along highways

Home is where the charger is

Most home charging uses a Level 2 charging station. According to Coulomb Technologies Inc. in Campbell, Calif., which makes charging stations, the most common Level 2 in-home installation will require 240 volts.

Older homes may need a bigger electrical panel, but most homes built since the 1980s probably can accommodate a home charging dock, says Kristen Helsel, vice president of EV solutions at AeroVironment Inc. in Monrovia, Calif., another manufacturer of charging stations.

It takes two to six hours to recharge a car with a Level 2 station, depending on how far the battery is depleted. AeroVironment says a Level 2 setup costs $2,000 to $4,200. Local labor rates account for much of the difference, the company says.

Level 1 charging uses a standard 110-volt household electrical outlet, Helsel says. Because that takes at least twice as long to charge as a Level 2 setup, manufacturers expect consumers to use household outlets only as a last resort. … Read more

Think City EV promises 80 percent charge in 15 min.

Think announced Monday that EnerDel will be the exclusive supplier of lithium ion batteries for Think City's U.S. cars and for 60 percent of its cars sold in Europe.

The company also announced that AeroVironment will be partnering with Think in the U.S. to build a series of "very-fast-charge stations."

The result of the fast-charging stations, combined with EnerDel's lithium ion batteries in Think City cars, will be electric cars that take only 15 minutes to charge from zero capacity to 80 percent capacity, according to Think.

As previously reported, the Think City all-electric car will have a range of about 112 miles per charge. … Read more

AeroVironment flies ahead with 'nano' air vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicles are becoming a big deal for the armed forces, even when they're really small.

AeroVironment said Tuesday that it has gotten the go-ahead, in the form of a Phase II contract, to design and build a teeny-tiny prototype for the Nano Air Vehicle program at DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. How teeny? The defense R&D agency stipulates that a NAV must be smaller than 7.5 centimeters (2.9 inches) and, at no more than 10 grams (one-third of an ounce), "ultralightweight."

A key eventual mission for NAVs would be … Read more

Air Force commits to micro air vehicle

The U.S. Air Force has gone all-in by authorizing full production of the AeroVironment backpack-sized Wasp III micro air vehicle, which will soon to be standard issue for combat controllers and USAF special ops, according to the Pentagon. This follows the U.S. Marine Corps' purchase of a Wasp III system, which it plans to deploy at the platoon level as a complement to the Raven (PDF).

Weighing in at a mere 1 pound, the plane's diminutive 29-inch wingspan can still loft a variety of hefty payloads in addition to its infrared cameras that stream video directly to … Read more

'Small wind' turbines blow onto rooftops

Although still in the shadow of its giant counterparts, small-scale wind turbines are slowly starting to reshape the wind industry.

AeroVironment last week said 18 of its Architectural Wind turbines are now installed at a new Kettle Foods Potato Chip factory in Beloit, Wisconsin.

The turbines are still in development, but the company has installed a number around the country. They were also used by students from Texas A&M University at the Solar Decathlon solar-home competition.

AeroVironment is targeting commercial customers rather than people's homes. But other companies have developed turbines suited for houses.

Southwest Windpower's Air Breeze … Read more

Hydrogen to fuel long-distance drone for special ops

The U.S. Special Operations Command is going green with its purchase of a hydrogen-fueled robo-plane that can loiter in the stratosphere for up to five days at a time.

The high-altitude long endurance (HALE) Global Observer will cost $57 million for the first drone, with two more in the pipeline for an additional $108 million. The drone, or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), is powered by a hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine designed and built by AeroVironment, which has already successfully tested a scaled down model during a five-day stretch in an altitude chamber above a simulated 65,000 feet.

The … Read more

Fuel cells take off

As automakers continue to make progress in the field of hydrogen fuel cells here on Earth, a California company is doing the same thing aloft. AeroVironment, a manufacturer of unmanned planes, announced last week that it had flown its Puma aircraft for nearly five hours using an onboard fuel cell battery hybrid energy storage system.

The Puma, which has a wingspan of 8.5 feet and weighs 12.5 pounds, was powered by its standard rechargeable-battery-powered propulsion system (capable of keeping the craft airborne for 2.5 hours), assisted by an onboard fuel-cell-powered battery. The unmanned aircraft incorporates its own … Read more