(Washington, DC) Sinautec Automobile Technologies, LLC and the American University (AU) will showcase America’s first ultracapacitor electric vehicle during a press conference and demonstration on October 21, 2009 from 10 AM to 5PM on AU’s campus in Washington, DC.

Sinautec will display and demonstrate an eleven-seat minibus, powered by state-of-the-art ultracapacitors, and charged by a 5,000 watt mobile solar unit. Ultracapacitor vehicles consume no fossil fuels, produce no tailpipe emissions, and are cost competitive compared to similar buses running on conventional fuels.

 See the video

“With a combination of advanced solar and ultracapacitor technologies, Sinautec seeks to demonstrate the certainty of a zero-carbon future for the US public transportation sector,” said Dan Ye, Sinautec’s CEO. Unlike battery-powered vehicles, ultracapacitor vehicles can be charged within minutes, and have important applications in municipal and campus transportation, shuttle services, tourism and recreation, he added.

Sinautec is an Arlington, Virginia-based company that develops high energy density ultracapacitors in the transportation and utility energy storage markets. With its research partner, Shanghai Aowei Technology Development Company, Sinautec successfully developed a series of ultracapacitor municipal buses that have been in commercial use in the greater Shanghai area since 2006. “It is our goal to contribute to the Obama Administration’s efforts to improve the environment and to reduce America’s reliance on foreign oil,” said Mr. Ye.

Here is the video:

Sinautec is currently working with several major research universities to develop the next generation of nano-scale ultracapacitors. For a video demonstration of the electric ultracapacitor bus please visit www.sinautecus.com

 What: Showcase ultracapacitor minibus demonstration at American University

Vertical wind turbine and mobile solar charging for the ultracapacitor-powered minibus

Panel discussion on renewable energy technology in transportation sector

When: Wednesday, October 21st

10 AM – Ribbon-cutting and Press Conference

12:00 PM to 2PM – Panel discussion – “Powering Electric Vehicles Using Locally Generated Electricity”

Where: American University, School of International Service (SIS) building just inside the Woods Gate on Nebraska Avenue, NW., in Washington, D.C.,

Press conference – lawn in front of the SIS building

Panel Discussion – lounge of the SIS building

Note: Demonstration of ultracapcitor bus and other technologies to be held on the main quad of American University in front of the SIS building all day.

Who: Dr. Joel Schindall, MIT, Nanotube ultracapacitor specialist

Dr.Terrance Sankar, American University, Vertical wind turbine specialist

Scott Sklar, president of Stella Group, Solar technology expert

Dan Ye, Sinautec CEO

Dr. Paul Wapner, American University, panel discussion moderator

Summary: The demonstration will showcase America’s first ultracapacitor electric vehicle.

1. The 15-foot minibus showcased will be the first electric vehicle in the country powered completely by ultracapacitors. The minibus can be fully recharged in fifteen minutes, unlike battery vehicles, which typically takes hours to recharge.

2. Electricity used in this demonstration will be generated by a 5,000 watt mobile solar station and a vertical wind turbine, which will generate zero carbon footprints. Wind and solar used with ultracapacitors hold great potential as source of power for electric vehicles in the future.

3. Two dozen full-size ultracapacitor buses have been in commercial operation in Shanghai, China for the past three years.

4. The ultracapacitor vehicle demonstration is a combined effort of American University, Sinautec Automobile Technologies, The Stella Group, and Shanghai Aowei Technologies Corp.

Photo opportunity: Ultracapacitor minibus, solar and wind charging demonstrations.

Interview Opportunity: Dan Ye, Sinautec CEO, dan.ye@sinautecus.com,   202-244-5178

Shweeb

Well, it is hard to get more green when it comes to transportation than good old human pedal power. A company has developed and built a working model of a human powered monorail transit system. Here is the Shweeb Research and Development team’s explanation of the technology and concept.

The pictures and video are self explanatory.

Our proposal to get you safely and quickly from one point in the city to another would be to elevate you onto a network of interconnected monorails where you never have to stop at traffic lights. The ideal vehicle for such a system already exists. Fully faired recumbent cycles, because of their low aerodynamic resistance, are breaking all bicycle speed records and currently reaching speeds of 90 kph (56 mph) in sprints. Suspending these comfortable and highly efficient machines from monorail tracks has the added advantage of taking away the rolling resistance of pneumatic tyres. Trains of Shweebs can further reduce the aero drag – ten people travelling at 40 kph will each have a lot less work to do than a single rider at the same speed. A single rider requires only a fraction of the energy to achieve the same speed as a normal cyclist – thanks to the significant reductions in both aero drag and tire friction. The vehicle is completely weatherproof, you can’t derail or fall out while on the cellphone or blackberry!

Shweeb

The result is the most efficient vehicle on earth, the most inexpensive infrastructure of any proposed urban transit and one of the highest capacity systems available – potentially delivering thousand’s of people per hour in a very small airspace. All this with zero carbon emissions and no parking worries or cost!

The Shweeb Research and Development team, headed by Geoffrey Barnett has spent six years designing this system. The Rotorua launch has proven the safety and efficiency of the technology. More and more of our riders are getting excited about the idea of getting up in the morning and Shweebing to work!

Source: Shweeb