Few now doubt the realities of climate change and the economic consequences of finite oil reserves, but burning petrol can be a tough addiction to kick. Fortunately, battery powered electric vehicles offer a truly viable alternative to petrol powered vehicles for the vast majority of vehicles on Australian roads.
Let us show you how.

Important Notice: As of June 2009, ZEVA has entered a joint venture with fellow Australian EV businesses EV Power and EVWA to form EV Works Pty Ltd.

Please visit our new website for all your electric vehicle product and service needs.

Cars and trucks: Although there are currently no mass-produced electric cars available in Australia, there are professional workshops around the country who can build one for you. Details are listed on our links page.

Bikes and scooters: There are several brands currently available in Australia, such as the Vectrix, E-Max and SWEI. Please visit the links page for details.

Our website got hacked today, and they managed to deface the recent news section temporarily. A message to the hacker: Why not do something useful with your life instead, like building an electric car?

Treehugger presents an interview with Seth Leitman, co-author of the new edition of popular book "Build Your Own Electric Vehicle", discussing his background and motivations for working on the book. Click below for the full story:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/
what-does-it-take-to-make-an-ev.php

Jeremy Clarkson from BBC's automotive show Top Gear recently reviewed the Tesla Roadster, including an impressive performance on the "stig lap" with a time equalling the Porsche 911 GT3. Autobloggreen is also running an article with comments from Tesla PR clarifying some of the points Clarkson made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U6XRoctFkM

"Built to demonstrate the potential of electric sports motorcycles for the first emissions-free Grand Prix, the initial prototype is based on a Suzuki GSX750 frame and running gear and runs two 43 bhp Agni Lynch Electric motors arranged in line with the frame..."

http://www.gizmag.com/the-worlds-first-
125-mph-electric-road-legal-motorcycle/10459/

Model S is Tesla’s zero-emission, five-passenger luxury sedan powered by a lithium-ion battery pack. It is expected to have a base price of about US$60,000 and get about 240 miles per charge with exceptional performance. The first sedans will likely roll off the assembly line in late 2010.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/
article.asp?section_id=10&article_id=7201

"Australia will become the third country in the world to have an electric car network in a bid to run the country's 15 million cars on batteries powered by green energy under a plan announced today.." See link below for the full article.

http://www.theage.com.au/national/
plan-for-electric-car-network-20081023-56zz.html

"Rumors of RUF's impending electric Porsche were true, except that the actual vehicle is based on a Porsche 911, not the Cayman as previously reported. Powered by a three-phase electric motor that offers about 200 horsepower along with an impressive 480 lb.-ft. of torque, the eRUF Model A can reportedly hit 60 miles per hour in under seven seconds and can reach a top speed of 160."

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/10/10/
rufs-electric-porsche-breaks-cover/

The Biker Gene has some details and pictures of Electric Motorsport's new GPR-S electric motorcycle. Click below for the full article, or here for the full specs at Electric Motorsport.

http://www.thebikergene.com/
electric-hybrids/us8000-gets-you-on-the-road-
fuel-free-with-the-electric-gpr-s

Big news for the high performance EV industry as has CafeElectric announced they will be discontinuing production of their line of motor controllers, i.e the Zillas. We hope they are able to find a licensee to take over manufacturing in the near future, as it would be a pity to lose such a great product from the EV world.

http://cafeelectric.com/

"AUSTRALIA will have its first plug-in electric car [sic - first mass-produced perhaps] by the end of next year. The baby Mitsubishi i MiEV has been confirmed for local sales, with a showroom target in the final months of 2009 and a starting price in the $30,000 range."

http://www.news.com.au/story/
0,23599,24070715-5007133,00.html

Google has had a plug-in vehicle program for over a year, and has now started investing in EV startup companies. I've been a longtime fan of Aptera, so it's great to see they're receiving some backing from a company like Google to help get their remarkable EV into production.

http://earth2tech.com/2008/07/23/
googleorg-invests-in-electric-car-startups/

A great speech by Al Gore discussing current problems caused by our use and dependence on carbon-based fuels, and ways we can overcome it. Highly recommended. (See also http://www.algore.org)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt9wZloG97U

"John McCain hopes to solve the country's energy crisis with cold hard cash. The Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting is proposing a $300 million government prize to whomever can develop an automobile battery that far surpasses existing technology..."

http://ap.google.com/article/
ALeqM5jfqkglGaJzMm-z8hIuFPKpCqLkwwD91FJE980

Last weekend the Power of DC EV AutoCross and Drag Race weekend was held in Maryland (US). The link below has several photo galleries from the event - an impressive turnout and some inspiring vehicles. Hopefully we'll be able to host something similar in Australia soon!

http://www.powerofdc.com/gallery.html

In this article from The Age newspaper, Andrew Heasley talks about Nissan's pledge to have plug-in, electric cars in showrooms by 2010 in the US and Japan, and globally by 2012. A good read.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/motors/
charging-into-the-future/2008/05/23/
1211654101908.html

Popular Mechanics is running an article written by Jamie Hyneman from the Mythbusters entitled "Why Electric Vehicles Beat Gas in 5 Extreme Tests". He discusses their recent episode where various EVs are compared with petrol powered equivalents.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/
transportation/4264025.html?series=19

For those interested to learn more about where oil supply and demand has been heading, check out this PDF (link below) of a recent presentation by Matthew R. Simmons, presented at the University of New Hampshire, on the realities and possible consequences of "Peak Oil".

http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/
University%20of%20New%20Hampshire.pdf

Possibly the most ambitious and promising EV venture ever, Project Better Place is an international organisation aimed at enabling widespread adoption of electric vehicles. So far Israel and Denmark have both entered into agreements with PBP to help them replace their petroleum vehicles with electric, with the target of becoming totally independent of petroleum within the next decade. See also this talk by Shai Agassi, discussing how it will be done.

http://projectbetterplace.com/

Jay Leno reviews a proper zero emission vehicle this time: the first production Tesla Roadster. The video includes a discussion with Tesla's chairman Elon Musk and some great in-car footage. I look forward to the day they come to Australia!

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/
video/video_player.shtml?vid=229378

evShop are a professional workshop converting petrol vehicles to electric based in Balcatta WA. They were featured on Drivetime TV on 16 Feb 2008 - great exposure for local the EV industry! If you missed it, you can view the clip at the link below:

http://evshop.com.au/news.htm

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