July 4, 08
University Student Creates a 150 Mile Range, 2 Hour Charge Electric Car

A graduate student at the University of Delaware has created an electric car of the hopefully not-so-distant future.

You get in it like a normal car, you turn the key like a normal car, you put it into gear like a normal car and drive it like a normal car.

But what makes the $70,000 Scion so special is that there is no smoke-spewing tailpipe, no noise, and no need to ever stop at a gas station.

"This fully electric vehicle goes about 3 cents to a mile, when compared with a gas vehicle that might go between 10 and 12 cents a mile," Scott Baker, a University of Delaware graduate student, said.

The car is no a hybrid, it is all electric. It gets plugged into an outlet.

Baker is part of a team of University of Delaware graduate students who have taken an electric car with all the pep of a normal car and made some changes to the inner workings of the car.

"Reducing carbon emissions that cause global warming, and reducing the U.S. dependence on foreign oil," Baker said.

The University of Delaware car gets lots of attention on campus and it has recently gotten attention on Capitol Hill. Major car companies are now interested in the students' work, as well.

A two-hour charge gets up to 150 miles of driving and the brakes actually recharge the batteries while driving. Plus, the car can actually make you some cash.

The students also created a "vehicle to grid" technology. When you plug the car in, it actually becomes a storage device for the power grid. The power company would actually pay you to store their power in your car until they need it. That could add up to about $2,500 to $5,000 a year the power company would pay the driver back.

The students just need to work on making the technology cheaper.

"It's very frustrating that I'm not able and you're not able to go out and buy an electric vehicle. Something that can go 120, 150 miles which is more than enough for the average American," Baker said.

Baker said he envisions a day where the wind and the sun create the power to charge an electric car..