I met Minh Duong at San Diego’s Street Smart a couple of Sundays ago. He was showing off his 3-wheeled electric car named Xe Điện (literally means ‘electric car’ in Vietnamese) among the Priuses, Honda Insights, even a Tesla Roadster. I spent a few minutes with Minh to chat about his creation of the electric car, his passion to start this personal project and what he hopes to achieve in the future.

A little bit about Minh Duong. He’s the Director of Engineering of at PDG Oncore, a local product engineering and development shop. DPG Oncore maintains offices in San Diego,CA and Vancouver, WA. Minh has 11 years professional experience in high efficiency electric vehicle development, product architecture development of a broad range of products, and miniature, precise, multi-function mechanisms for high volume products. He’d worked on various consumer and enterprise projects ranging from ink jet photo printer architecture and automated backup data storage libraries, to high power supply connection for the fusion research center, to motorcycle power car and electric concept cars. Minh earned his BSME from University of California, San Diego.

Xe Dien is a prototype vehicle. It is street legal and has a range of about 20 miles with its current battery pack configuration using Costco batteries. The pack provides 7.1 kW-hr of energy. The vehicle has two wheels in front under a fiberglass fairing, and a single, motorcycle style driving wheel behind the driver. Power to the back wheel is provided by a high performance AC induction motor from HPGC through a motorcycle chain, and a Curtis 1238 controller. The vehicle gets peak power of 35 hp and benefits from a torque of 100 ft-lb (0-2000 rpm.) Xe Dien can take off from 0 to 60 mph in 10 seconds.

All in all, Xe Dien looks to fall in a category called neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV), but it can go faster than 40 mph, so to me it is a full EV. The prototype project took 18 months, with vehicle design started in December 2006 and fabrication began in March 2007. Here are some of the Q&As I had with Minh.

CCT: What are some of the most challenging factors you faced during this project?
MD: The most challenging part to build was the fiberglass body of the car. That alone took 4 months to build – and still there are many cosmetic flaws. It doesn’t help that I did not have any fiberglass experience.

CCT: You mentioned that although this was a personal project, you did receive some sponsorship. What was the split in total cost that came from the sponsor and from your own pocket?
MD: PDG Oncore provided access to free engineering consultation, build material, and shop use. My out-of-pocket expense was around $9k.

CCT: What are some improvements you still like to see to a) improve range? b) improve charge time? c) improve efficiency?
MD: There are two improvements I would like to incorporate. The first is extending the range. My original plan was to use lithium iron phosphate batteries, but cost of the pack delayed my plans. I should have the lithium battery pack installed in two months. I will have 80-100 mile/charge range with a 13.3 kW-hr battery pack. The design objective of my car is to be ultra energy efficient.

CCT: What would it take to commercialize this car and produce in quantity? What design change will it require?
MD: I have no current plans to commercialize the first prototype I built (shown at Street Smart). I have formed a team to develop a more practical 2 seat – 3 wheel electric vehicle. Transitioning our car into low volume kit or rolling vehicle production is pretty straightforward. It would take us 6 months and $300k to complete our first phase development and build 5 functional vehicles. We would have to develop a mold for the body and welding fixtures for the chassis and other weldments during our first phase. Product development/engineering is our core business, so we know how to commercialize ideas. We won’t seek investment money for our vehicle until our vehicle design is ready for prototype fabrication.

I would rather not disclose the list of planned improvements for the next vehicle at this time.

CCT: Will you build one for a paying customer? What would be a ballpark price?
MD: We have not officially formed a business around our electric vehicle yet. If there is sufficient interest, we will accelerate our plans to develop and build vehicles for customers. Initial costing suggests that we can offer the rolling chassis at $10-12k. With lithium batteries and complete AC drive system installed, the vehicle should cost $25k. 

Minh Duong can be contacted directly at minh.duong@pdgoncore.com.

Minh Duong Talks About Xe Dien at Street Smart San Diego 2009

Rear Wheel Area Showing Swingarm, Suspension and Motor/Controller Behind Driver

Below are some photos from Minh Duong’s flickr photostream. View more cool photos at mpduong’s photostream.

Xe Dien Motor and Controller Installation	Electric Car Xe Dien Side View
Minh Duong in His Xe Dien	Electric Car Xe Dien at 2008 Kick Gas Festival

Home-Built Electric Car ‘Xe Điện’ Has 20 Mile-Range on Costco Batteries is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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I saw the first Honda Insight hybrid cars on the road today. Okay so no one was driving them on the road. These brand new Honda Insight hybrid cars were actually transported on the auto transport trailer going north on Interstate 15 just north of Mira Mesa Boulevard exit.

The trailer were filled with 10 Insight hybrids in standard configuration (6 on top, 4 on bottom.) I could see the following colors: Spectrum White Pearl, Atomic Blue Pearl, Polished Metal Metallic, Tango Red Pearl, Alabaster Silver Metallic. Only Crystal Black Pearl was missing. Check out the photos below.

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Updated 03-14-09. Honda has always been at the head of the pack when it comes to developing new green technologies. The company is constantly developing exciting products and for the 2010 models, Honda is adding the Honda Insight to the hybrid competition mix. In more ways than one, it may be the Prius killer .

The Insight, set for release in spring 2009, is designed to combine functionality with style. Honda is not known for producing stylish cars, but the new Honda Insight looks pretty sharp. Most people who are looking at hybrid cars are not necessarily too concerned with looks, but rather, gas mileage. High mpg (miles per gallon) is the name of the game for hybrids, and the Honda Insight checks in with an EPA estimated 40 mpg in town, and 43 mpg on the highway. No one knows exactly how well this car will perform, but looking at the statistics, it looks as if the other hybrid models out there, such as the Prius, may achieve somewhat better overall gas mileage.

Honda has two Insight models, the LX and the EX. The two are fairly similar, and the only real differences are the transmission, and the EX has a better traction control system. In addition, available as an add-on equipment, the EX can come installed with the Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™ with Voice Recognition. Both models get the same gas mileage, so the only real difference is the amount of extra features, and I’m sure, the price tag.

It looks like Honda is upping the ante, as everything about the Honda Insight is set to trump the Toyota Prius, including sales. Honda has promised “affordable prices” on both the LX and the EX models, though no official price has been released and just announced that the Insight LX goes on sale March 24 with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $19,800 (Insight press release). Honda was generous enough to offer an estimate of around $19,000 for the base model, which I’m sure is the low end of the price range. The 2009 Prius model starts at $22,000, and you can end up spending much more than that for extra features. Most other hybrids start at $20,000, and you can easily end up spending $25,000, $30,000, or even more.

Most of the world has high hopes for this car. Honda has always made a quality machine, and their prices are reasonable. I have owned Hondas myself, as many of you, and we’re all familiar with Honda’s reputation for performance and reliability. Many people believe that the Insight will pass up all the competition, including the current industry leader, Toyota. The gas mileage is certainly tempting, and it is rumored that the car has been getting up to 60 mpg on the freeway.

Here’s Edmunds’ video comparing the Insight and Prius.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4WkJ0yvcVk

One very cool feature of the Honda Insight that is not included in any other hybrid is Honda’s Eco Assist System. This Eco Assist System is meant to improve your gas mileage by informing you if you are driving well. The gas mileage you achieve is highly dependent on how you are driving. If you are accelerating quickly and stopping often, you will not get good gas mileage. Also, if you are driving too fast, gas mileage will also suffer. This system tells you when you are driving too fast by lighting up your speedometer in blue. If you speedometer is green, that means you are driving well and you should see very good gas mileage. It’s sort of a driving coach to help you squeeze every last mile out of your fuel source. From Honda’s own press release:

The Insight introduces Eco Assist to help drivers achieve improved real-world fuel economy. Eco Assist is a feature designed to help drivers optimize fuel efficiency for their given set of driving conditions. Pressing the ECON button can further enhance the efficiency of multiple vehicle systems: throttle control, CVT operation, idle-stop duration, air conditioning and cruise-control operation (EX only). Eco Assist also provides feedback about driving style via a 3D-appearing background within the speedometer. The background changes colors from green to blue to reflect how efficiently or inefficiently the driver is accelerating or braking (green = efficient). The driver’s results are continuously tracked as fuel-economy ratings are shown per drive cycle and on a lifetime basis in the form of plant-leaf graphics that appear in the Multi-Information Display (MID). Up to five leaves can be ‘earned’ as the driver demonstrates a fuel-efficient driving style. A real-time score is shown in the Eco Guide MID screen.

For a closer look at the Honda Insight, head on over to the Honda Insight Official Website to check out more detailed specifications.

Like many other auto manufacturers, Honda is encouraging the “go green” approach to future cars. Of course, green driving comes with extra green dollars needed to buy the products (at least for the foreseeable future), but automakers are taking a stand against pollution and global warming. I’m glad to see Honda taking a more serious push with a very nice looking package.

Can’t wait to see them on the roads.

Honda Insight 2010 Hybrid: Is It a Toyota Prius Killer? is a post from: CleanCarTalk

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