Oregon Police Go Electric
khallgeisler - Bikes & Cars
The police force in Sherwood, Oregon, is trying out a new all-electric cop car for a year. Sherwood’s EV of choice is the E-Z-Go with black and white po-po livery on its doors. An article in the Sherwood Gazette says that the department is leasing the car free of charge for a year. At the end of the year, the police department will decide if it wants to purchase the car for $14,500.
Where did the cops get this crazy idea? From the city manager, Jim Patterson. He has an E-Z-Go of his own that he uses to commute to work. The idea for the EV squad car is to save on gasoline costs for the city and reduce the environmental impact. There won’t be any high-speed chases in the E-Z-Go, but there could be some silent stealth missions on the agenda.
The drawback of the E-Z-Go that the Sherwood police are leasing is that it is, at heart, a golf cart. The company threw on some doors, and the police will be adding a light bar soon, but the casual observer is going to say, “Hey! That cop is driving a golf cart!” While the low-power cart will be great for community policing and undoubtedly better for the environment than a fully loaded squad car rolling slowly along city streets, the E-Z-Go doesn’t do much for the perception of electric vehicles as the cars of the future.
Regardless, big ups to Sherwood for taking a step in the right direction and giving an EV — even one with limited power and design sensibilities — a chance.
Image by Ray Pitz/Sherwood Gazette.
Lockheed, EEStor Working On Body Armor With Energy Unit
Katie Fehrenbacher - Startups
While Lockheed’s patent application references a more general rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery being used with the garment, the application not only specifically refers to possibly using EEStor’s technology, but calls the general energy storage technology an “electrical energy storage unit,” precisely what EEStor calls the energy storage device on which it is working. A garment with an energy storage layer could help soldiers power electronics like a radio, flashlight, or GPS for longer periods of time — soldiers often carry a significant amount of weight in extra batteries to power such devices.
As EEStor watchers know, the startup announced a contract back in January 2008 to integrate energy storage units into military applications. Craig Vanbebber of Lockheed Martin told us back then that Lockheed could be working with EEStor on anything from a wearable power source to powering soldier vehicles or command and control centers. Vanbebber also told us then that testing EEStor’s technology on the battlefield would be a major step for EEStor’s technology, explaining, “The challenges and logistics of taking power onto the battlefield are significant."
Lockheed patent says that an energy storage layer of the garment could have a thickness of .5 centimeters to 2 centimeters, and there could be multiple layers of energy storage units. The garment would include electrical connectors, electrical ports and an energy management system. Specifically Toby Thomas and David Hoelscher are named as inventors of the device. See images below:
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