Alternative Transportation Week: Tesla and Phoenix

When you think of alternative transportation, what do you REALLY think of? Let's get to the sexy.
They may not be working on the innovations that are most ripe to alleviate our dependence on oil (alternative fuels comes to mind for that) or our environmental impact (that would be biking), but the sexiest innovators may just be those companies that are developing new kinds of cars from scratch.

Let's talk fully electric powered vehicles. These aren't your incrementally-improving hybrid vehicles from Toyota or Honda (that's no judgment; at least they're putting putting mass quantities of fuel-saving cars on the road) or, worse, your auto show sparklers with no real world application (yet) from our Big 3. They're not your fuel-cell novelties that raise more stumper questions- like where will you refill your hydrogen?- then they answer. And while their technology platform poses its own limitations (like how far will my 100-mile charge take me?), these battery-powered vehicle pioneers represent an exciting advance in the idea that electric may win the alternative transportation race.

There's Phoenix Motorcars, whose Nanosafe battery lasts 100+ miles per charge and offers up more torque and higher speeds than probably most people imagine from an electric. Phoenix is in production on fleet trucks and SUVs and conjures up some serious commercial applications. Plus they use the word "Nano," which is always a hit.

And then there's Tesla Motors, whose high-end Roadster, powered by lithium ion battery packs (or "Energy Storage Systems") performs like a sports car and, as reservable and customizable online, costs like one too (about $100k).

(not to be overlooked: ZAP! Smart Cars, and scooters, ATVs and bikes...)

That may be what I love most about the different market-targeting tacts these two well-funded and well-partnered start-ups are taking, especially Tesla: it suggests maturity in the market if they really believe there is a high end customer to serve (and all the 2008 pre-orders and funding Tesla has secured would seem to corroborate the business model) in addition to a commercial market and, ostensibly, a Joe Prius-Driver type of market.

News and What They're Saying:

Business 2.0's Todd Woody reports Tesla will be supplying it's lithium battery
Autobloggreen.com on Tesla's funding for developing a commercial charging station
HybridCarBlog.com on steamrolling Prius sales
ObscureStore points to the Trib on a Chi-town Prius cabbie
Jeff on a BarackObama.com community block on the unrealized benefits of "transport electrification," include Phoenix
GreenCarCongress on UQM and Altairnano collaborating with Phoenix on a 150kW drive system
Clement's Cave on Phoenix' SUT truck
REpreneur (great blog by U. of Arizona marketing/entp student Kyle Cherrick) with links to Phoenix, ZAP! and a bunch of other renewable energy companies and organizations

phoenix motorcars
tesla