EV with miracle range record is destroyed in mysterious warehouse fire. Hmm.

[wtmusic]

"Say a company claims it has a battery pack that has set an amazing range record but then the vehicle that the battery powered ends up destroyed in a warehouse fire. What would you think? Well, this is the exact scenario that DBM Energy GmbH is facing.

DBM and Lekker Energie, using funds from Germany's economy ministry, converted an Audi A2 to run on a Kolibri alpha-polymer technology battery pack. Last October, the A2 traveled 375 miles from Munich to Berlin, depleting the battery only 80%. The trip took 7 hours, resulting in a 55 mile per hour average speed.

In December, just a two short months after the impressive journey, misfortune struck and the A2 was destroyed in a warehouse fire still under investigation. According to DBM the vehicle did not have the would-be (if verified) world-record-setting battery installed at the time of the fire. Further, they intend to continue conducting "confidence-building" tests and proceed with plans to bring the Kolibri battery to market."

http://green.autoblog.com/2010/10/27/converted-audi-a2-claims-new-electric-vehicle-distance-record-3/

[villager]

1. you thought Mamet's "The Water Engine" was fiction?

<snip>

The engine of the title is the invention of Charles (Steven Goldstein), a contraption that runs on basic water. How appropriate that Charles should have made his discovery in the year of the World's Fair, a celebration of science and progress.

Yet as Charles begins to deal with a pair of slick-tongued lawyers (Peter Jacobson and Jordan Lage) who claim to represent his best interests, it becomes obvious that the organic water engine is actually a threat to the status quo of official Science and Progress, and their corporate embodiments. Charles and his equally idealistic sister, Rita (Mary McCann), become innocents in jeopardy, and the play soon acquires the tone of a radio suspense thriller.

<snip>

http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9D0DEFDF1339F932A15753C1A96F958260

[wtmusic]

2. Not sure what to think

but I'm leaning in the direction that these are scam artists defrauding the German government.

[villager]

3. well, if it works as advertised, there's motive to kill it. If it doesn't, there's also motive

...but, I guess, from different parties! ;-)

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. A 375-Mile Battery Range: Too Good to be True?

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/a-375-mile-battery-range-too-good-to-be-true/

February 3, 2011, 4:49 pm

A 375-Mile Battery Range: Too Good to be True?

By SEBASTIAN BLANCO

…

Last October, a Kolibri-powered Audi A2, converted by DBM Energy GmbH and Lekker Energie with funding from the German economy ministry, traveled from Munich to Berlin, around 375 miles, which the car covered in about seven hours without recharging. Upon arrival, its 115-kWh pack was only around 80 percent depleted, implying a total range of more than 400 miles from a pack weighing just 770 pounds. For comparison, the Tesla Roadster’s pack, which claims 245 miles of range, weighs 990 pounds.

If verified — and DBM states on its Web site that the inspection organization DEKRA checked the vehicle and also cites 30 eyewitnesses — it would be a world record. A specially designed battery-powered Daihatsu Mira went 623 miles on a track last May, but while only averaging 25 miles per hour. The 375-mile journey by the Lekker Mobil is notable because it was done on public roads in wet weather at an average speed of 55 m.p.h.

As for the controversy? The A2 disintegrated in a December fire while parked in a warehouse, though DBM claims that a makeshift battery unit, and not the one used during the supposed record run, was installed at the time. The fire is under police investigation, but it has prompted skeptics to further question whether DBM has anything to hide.

Peter Hoffmann, who publishes The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Letter Web site and newsletter, discovered that the organizations that were instrumental in the vehicle’s development were not backing down and intend to bring a Kolibri battery and another converted A2 to the CeBIT electronic industry show in Hanover, Germany, in March. Mr. Hoffmann reported that DBM planned to convert a third A2 as well as a BMW X5 and conduct more “confidence-building” tests later this month.

…

[Javaman]

5. And I'm sure all the CAD plans were destroyed as well.

:eyes:

Prototypes are a dime a dozen. It's the CAD drawings and designs you want to save.

It's not like this car was created from whole cloth off the top of the head of some garage based genius who never told anyone the secrets.

jeez.

[OKIsItJustMe]

6. And it’s not as if they built the car from scratch

They started with a production car, which was designed for efficiency:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A2

…

Design, engineering and construction

The overriding theme in the design and engineering of the A2 was summarized by the then Audi UK product manager in an interview after the car won a design award in 2001 as "create a small Audi, not a cheap Audi",⁶ and the creative brief is said to have been “Transport four people from Stuttgart to Milan on a single tank of petrol”.⁶

The A2 is built using considerable aluminium and aluminium alloy content, providing significant weight advantage over similar sized cars. This helps the car to be significantly more economical than vehicles using traditional steel monocoques; under certain circumstances, consumption for the 1.2 TDI model can be as low as just over 2 litres per 100 kilometres (140 mpg-imp; 120 mpg-US). This version of the Audi A2 won the Nordic Countries "EcoRun" economical driving race in 2005 with consumption of 2.62 L/100 km (107.8 mpg_-imp; 89.8 mpg_-US). Even the normal petrol engined versions are capable of 5 L/100 km (56.5 mpg_-imp; 47.0 mpg_-US). The A2 was also notable for being the first Audi model since the 1970s Audi 50 not to be offered with its' 'trademark' quattro four-wheel drive option. The A2 has coefficient of drag: 0.25 - 0.29 depending on model.⁷

…

[Javaman]

7. My point is: the tech is still around. It hasn't vanished. nt

[OKIsItJustMe]

8. Right

We are in agreement.